US thwarted plot to kill Sikh separatist in America.

A top Biden administration official stated that American officials foiled a plan to assassinate a Sikh separatist in the country and cautioned India over worries the New Delhi government may have been involved.

The White House stated on Wednesday that the United States is taking the plot exceptionally seriously and that it has been discussed “at the senior-most levels” with the Indian government.

The first to report on the conspiracy was The Financial Times. Speaking on behalf of the White House, Adrienne Watson said that upon learning about the event, Indian officials expressed “surprise and concern.”

The American administration has brought up this matter with the Indian government, even at the highest levels, Watson stated. “We are treating this issue with the utmost seriousness.”

“They declared that such actions were not within their policies… We know the Indian government is looking into this matter more thoroughly, and we anticipate hearing more in the days ahead. “We have expressed our belief that those who are found to be at fault ought to face consequences,” she stated.

The senior administration official claimed that the conspiracy against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who claims to be a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, was prevented.

The event was reported two months after Canada announced that “credible” claims had been made connecting Indian operatives to the June murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver neighborhood. India has denied these claims.

The Indian anti-terror agency filed a lawsuit against Pannun on Monday, claiming that he sent passengers on the flag carrier Air India video messages this month that threatened to kill them.

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When queried about the FT article, Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Arindam Bagchi stated that Washington had supplied “certain insights” that were “considered by “relevant ministries.”

The contributions, according to Bagchi, dealt with the “nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others.”

“India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on our own national security interests as well,” he added.

The FT said its sources omitted whether the scheme was abandoned due to the US’s complaint to India or the FBI stopping it. According to the statement, President Joe Biden’s June reception of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his official visit prompted the protest.

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The FT said that in addition to the diplomatic warning to India, federal prosecutors in the United States had filed a secret indictment in a New York district court against at least one suspect.

The US Department of Justice opted not to respond.

Similar to Nijjar, Pannun is in favor of the long-standing but now marginal desire to separate an independent Sikh homeland from India, known as Khalistan. New Delhi views this proposal as a security risk because of a violent insurgency that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s.

Pannun was charged with conspiracy and terrorism, among other offenses, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India. In video communications, it was said that he threatened to stop Air India from operating anywhere globally.

The case is set against the historical backdrop of an Air India airplane bombing in 1985 that occurred in Canada and resulted in the deaths of 329 people. Sikh extremists were held responsible for the incident.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Pannun stated that he aimed to “boycott Air India, not bomb.”

On Wednesday, he revealed to Reuters that he would let the US government to react “to the issue of threats to my life at the American soil from the Indian operatives.”

“Just like Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s assassination by the Indian agents on Canadian soil was a challenge to Canada’s sovereignty, the threat to (an) American citizen on American soil is a Challenge to America’s sovereign(ty),” stated the politician.

General Counsel Pannun works with Sikhs for Justice, an organization India designated as an “unlawful association” in 2019 due to its radical outreach. Indian authorities classified Pannun as an “individual terrorist” in 2020.