While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was enjoying the trappings of a state visit to the White House last year, his spy chiefs were plotting to assassinate a leading dissident on US soil, according to US and Indian security officials.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill provided all the trimmings, with lotus flowers, the symbol of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, decorating the south lawn and a vegetarian chef flown in from California for the June 22 event.
Meanwhile, Modi’s spy agency was finalizing the attack, according to an explosive report in the Washington Post.
The killing is now a “priority,” wrote Vikram Yadav, an officer with India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) spy agency.
The idea that a friendly nation would order an assassination on U.S. soil, potentially leading to a diplomatic freeze, stunned Western officials as details emerged.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the White House last year when he was greeted by first lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden on June 22.
So why would they do it?
“Because they knew they could get away with it,” a Western official told the newspaper.
Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen, was the target of the plot, which was ultimately foiled.
But in June 2022, Yardav forwarded his details, including his New York address, to a hired hiring team.
Once the would-be killers could confirm that Pannun was home, he said:It will be an agreement from us.’
Details of the plot have already been laid out in an indictment, but Yardav’s identity and ties have not previously been reported, confirming for the first time that the plan was orchestrated by India’s spy agency.
Current and former Western intelligence officers say senior officers are involved and that the target was approved by then RAW chief Samant Goel.
Neither Doval nor Goel reportedly responded to requests for comment.
The latest revelations are in line with India’s increasingly aggressive stance.
Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun after the plot against his life was foiled
Modi was treated to all the spectacle the White House has to offer
Last year, Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the killing of a Sikh separatist leader there.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by two masked assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple near Vancouver in June 2023.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder after advocating a separate Sikh state to be carved out of India. The Indian government has rejected any suggestion that it was involved.
Both plots emerged during a wave of murders in Pakistan. At least 11 Sikh or Kashmiri separatists, condemned as terrorists by Modi’s government, have been killed in the past two years.
And officials say RAW has stepped up surveillance and harassment of foreign critics.
Canada accused India of orchestrating the murder of 46-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. He was a strong supporter of the separatist movement in Khalistan, which calls for the creation of a new independent homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab district of northern India.
Tensions between Canada and India ran high after the murder
The result is a diplomatic conundrum for the Biden administration, which has cultivated deeper ties with India.
According to the report, the White House last July began exploring ways to respond without risking a deeper diplomatic rift. CIA chief Bill Burns is among those sent to New Delhi to demand answers.
The plot against Pannun was disrupted when an Indian man recruited to orchestrate the murder approached a hit man, who turned out to be a DEA informant, according to the court.
Nikhil Gupta, described in the indictment as an Indian drug and arms trafficker, was arrested in Prague on June 30 and remains in prison. He denies the charges and is awaiting a ruling on his extradition.