Pannun murder plot: Indian report ‘positive first step’, but not closed chapter, says US ambassador

The recommendation by the Indian government’s inquiry committee to pursue legal action against an unidentified individual allegedly involved in an alleged foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a “really positive first step”, United States Ambassador Eric Garcetti told The Times of India on Thursday.

However, he said that the report does not mark a “closed chapter for India or for America” as the inquiry is only at the stage of recommending action. “So those actions presumably will have to be taken, prosecutors will have to win victories but it’s a very positive step,” Garcetti told the Hindustan Times.

“It delivered what the private interactions I had with Indian officials promised,” Garcetti said. “We said changes should be made to ensure this doesn’t happen again and people should be held accountable.”

Garcetti was appointed as the US ambassador to India by the Joe Biden administration in May 2023. He is expected to step down when Donald Trump becomes the president on Monday.

The ambassador told The Hindu that the ongoing case in the United States about the matter “will be independent from anything here in India”.

Garcetti was responding to questions by reporters about the Indian investigation into an alleged foiled plot to kill Pannun on American soil.

On Wednesday, a high-powered inquiry committee, set up by the Union government…

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