India may have maintained a calm disposition so far on the Pannun assassination plot claims by the United States, but it is planning to give a “firm response” to the Joe Biden administration on this issue. While a high-level inquiry panel set up by New Delhi has started looking into the various inputs provided by Washington related to the different security issues including the “Pannun plot”, India is gearing up to drive its message home through diplomatic channels in the US that its allegation about an Indian national being involved in a conspiracy to kill designated Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil is something that is “contrary to the Indian government policy”. Sources told The Sunday Guardian that “the message that New Delhi has already started conveying to the Biden administration through various channels is that it is wrong of the US and its departments (Department of Justice) to make any public statement that could be seen as fingers being pointed at India’s involvement in the Pannun plot issue”.

In fact, India wants the US to wait for the inquiry panel to complete its probe before drawing any conclusion. “This has been communicated to the US officials. They have also been told not to discuss any aspect of this case in public, whether it is related to the allegation about an Indian’s involvement or something else,” a diplomatic source in New Delhi told this newspaper. In this context, it is important to quote Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma. In an interview to a Canadian news channel, Verma said that Indian connections referred to by the US were not “Government of India connections”, but were linked to “people” in India. This also reflects India’s strategy to spread the message that the US or any other country for that matter, including Canada, should not see it as India’s involvement in the alleged assassination plot. Significantly, India has neither confirmed nor denied any Indian’s hand in the alleged plot. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has simply termed the allegation as a matter of concern that needs to be looked into.

According to sources, India is now working on a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the whole issue. It will be working behind the scenes with firmness, ensuring at the same time that no move antagonises the Biden administration and spoils the ties with the US. With the help of “facts and evidence”, which the inquiry committee will gather in due course of time during the probe, New Delhi will try to counter the US narrative that “Pannun is a separatist leader and a victim of international conspiracy”, sources said. India will share “truckloads of evidence” with the US proving that Pannun is a hard-core criminal and terrorist conspiring to attack Indian targets, sources said. However, there will be no noise or public posturing by the Indian side on this. “All will be done in private conversations and parlays with the US officials, even though the US did not avoid making public statements about the assassination plot, dragging the ‘Indian official’s’ name,” sources said.

Sources said, “The probe committee is working on three major points. One, the panel is looking into the inputs shared by the US about the nexus between organised crime, trafficking, gun-running, and extremists at an international level. Two, the inquiry panel is focused on collecting evidence to prove that Pannun is a hard-core terrorist who is plotting attacks against Indian targets including Air India flights. This way, India will also give a message to the Biden administration in discussions across the table that the US is projecting a terrorist as a separatist leader and as a victim by concealing his terror activities. Three, the panel will examine the inputs provided by the US accusing an “Indian official” of orchestrating a plot to kill Pannun in New York.

Sources said that Indian agencies are already in possession of clinching evidence to expose Pannun’s terror activities, and the probe panel will take into account the same evidence. This will help India to put pressure on the US to prosecute Pannun for his open terror threats, sources added. India has already said that follow-up action will be taken on the findings of the committee. “This will be one of the follow-up actions once the report comes. Since the US has agreed to wait for the conclusion of the panel’s probe, it will also be binding on the Biden administration to take notice of the findings,” a diplomat said.

Diplomatic officials say that the Biden administration’s disclosure about a foiled plot to kill Pannun has created a perception about the US shielding a terror element on its soil. “The perception that is everywhere, and which will help India’s diplomacy as well, is that the US is concealing the terror activities of a Khalistani militant in the name of defending an American citizen. The Biden administration is shaping a narrative about Pannun as the victim of a foiled assassination plot, while he deserves punishment for issuing open threats to down Air India aircraft,” says a diplomat.

According to an official, India is also in the process of completing the formalities to implicate Pannun for his open threat and some other organisations which are working for the Khalistanis. The inquiry committee, in coordination with probe agencies in India and intelligence agencies abroad will examine the existing evidence and gather new proof. Sources said that some US envoys and officials may also be called by the panel for updates on the issue. “Once the process to implicate Pannun is over, New Delhi will be reaching out to the Biden administration for necessary action against the Khalistani terrorist,” officials here said.

Diplomats say that the US needs India for its plan to counter China. It is a big leverage that India can use to handle this issue in a better way, without affecting the ties with Washington, officials said. Even as Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the charges by US Justice Department of an India hand in the alleged plot to kill Khalistani extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil was being viewed seriously, the White House immediately after this stated that the issue won’t affect ties with India. Officials insist that the Indian government does not have a policy of conducting black operations outside the country or anywhere.

The DoJ indictment included details regarding the alleged attempted assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen, by an Indian intelligence officer referred to only as CC-1. According to the allegation, CC-1 “directed the assassination plot from India”. According to the allegation, the Indian intelligence officer worked directly with an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, to try to arrange a murder for hire on Pannun in New York in June. However, the alleged plan was foiled in a sting operation after the “hitman” that Gupta agreed to pay $100,000 to carry out the assassination was in fact an undercover informant for the US enforcement agencies.