The Washington Post has doubled down on its allegations that the Indian government was behind the failed plot to kill Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and has called in an editorial for a “full and honest investigation” into the scheme. India must “get to the bottom of this appalling murder-for-hire case”, the newspaper’s editorial board said.
In a stinging piece a day after it published a detailed story accusing India’s intelligence agency R&AW and its former chief Samant Goel of hatching the plot, The Post said the United States also should “make clear that this country will not tolerate such crimes on its territory.”
The Post, which cited current and former US and Indian officials along with a US indictment for it allegations, added that India has not been particularly forthcoming about the investigation into the murder conspiracy which was thwarted by US government agents. “A US delegation that travelled to New Delhi several weeks ago for an update on the probe, however, returned with little evidence of meaningful progress.”
"The assassination plot cries out for a full and honest investigation that has yet to be carried out," The Post said. "It appears "those who hatched the conspiracy were working for the highest levels of the (Indian) government".
The Post, quoting Freedom House which rates levels of democracy and a free press worldwide, placed India on a list of countries that are attempting what it called, “transnational repression”. The list includes several autocracies or semi-autocracies including Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, Belarus, Rwanda and Egypt.
“Transnational repression”, said the newspaper, has been rising globally and is about "governments brazenly attempting to punish, kidnap or assassinate critics, activists, dissidents and journalists far beyond their own borders, violating the laws and norms of other countries with impunity."
The Post also mentioned the murder of Sikh separatist activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent relations with Delhi into the deep freeze when he said that Canada had "credible evidence" of India's involvement in Nijjar's killing. The Post noted the alleged chief Indian plotter in the US plan wrote two days after Nijjar was gunned down in a gurdwara parking lot that killing of Pannun "is a priority now." The Post said the alleged conspiracy was unfolding as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being lavishly entertained at the White House by President Joe Biden.
The newspaper pointed out that the US has been going easy so far because of its "strategic interests" in building a long-term relationship with India to counter a rapidly rising China which the US now considers a key rival at the global level. The Indian government has said it is still investigating the Pannun case but has added that "targeted killings are not our policy."
The US has, so far, treated the India case, "with kid gloves", the Post said but it appeared to hint that this might not continue. It indicated that CIA Director William Burns and other senior officials may be demanding sterner actions. "The administration has not imposed expulsions, sanctions or other penalties," it noted.
