The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on December 20 that India is taking the recent threat made by US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, with utmost seriousness. This matter has been communicated to the relevant authorities in Washington. Pannun, who is designated as a terrorist by India and holds citizenship in both the United States and Canada, claimed that Kwatra is being monitored by pro-Khalistan Sikhs in the US. He further accused the Ambassador of collaborating with Russian officials to gather intelligence on the Khalistan movement within the United States.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal emphasized during a weekly briefing in New Delhi that any threats of this nature are treated with gravity and have been formally raised with the US government, expressing the expectation that the US will take these security concerns seriously and respond appropriately. Ambassador Kwatra, who began his tenure in August, has been actively involved in enhancing India-US relations, particularly in light of ongoing threats from Khalistan separatists aimed at Indian diplomatic missions and the Hindu community in the US. In October, the MEA addressed another incident related to Pannun, confirming that an individual named in a US Justice Department indictment was no longer affiliated with the Indian government. This indictment detailed a thwarted assassination plot against Pannun in New York City, involving an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, who was allegedly recruited to hire a hitman for the scheme, which was ultimately disrupted by US law enforcement. India maintains its confidence in the US government’s capacity to effectively manage its security concerns regarding such threats.
