A US court issued summon to the Indian government yesterday in response to a civil lawsuit filed by terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani, who claimed there was an assassination plot. However, the Ministry of External Affairs termed the lawsuit as “completely unwarranted.” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri while responding to it said, “When these issues were first brought to our attention, we took action. There's a high-level committee engaged (in this matter)...”

The Government of India, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) Chief Samant Goel are named in the summons that was issued by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Moreover, Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta and R&AW agent Vikram Yadav have been named and have been given a 21-day deadline to submit a response. However, the Center hasn't responded to this development as yet. 

Pannu shared a copy of the summons on his X account; this account has been disabled in India. Pannun is a citizen of both the United States and Canada.

Diplomatic relations between India and the US have been mired by the controversy surrounding India's purported attempt to kill Pannun, a designated terrorist. Indian national Gupta was slapped with murder-for-hire charges by the US Justice Department in November 2023. The charges stemmed from the department's claim that Gupta was involved in a plot to kill the leader of the "Sikhs for Justice" organization.

Gupta denied the charges against him in June. He was arrested in the Czech Republic last year and later extradited to the US at the request of the US government as part of its case against him. The prosecutors involved in the case against Gupta in the US claim that he was working under the instructions of an unnamed Indian government official claim India has denied. The Indian government has further announced that it will investigate the matter.

The Indian official behind the scheme was identified as Vikram Yadav, an R&AW officer, and the operation was approved by former R&AW Chief Goel, according to a report published in April in The Washington Post. However, India had rejected the report on the grounds that it contained "unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations."

The development comes two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to the US for President Joe Biden's annual Quad summit. Modi is scheduled to visit the US from September 21–23.

Image source: Business Standard