India cooperating with US probe in Gurpatwant Singh Pannu case: Envoy

New Delhi, November 27

India’s High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma has said the Indian Government is cooperating with a US probe into an alleged thwarted assassination attempt on terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu as the US had given “inputs which are legally presentable”.

Regarding Canada’s investigation into the June killing of Sikh terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, he said Ottawa had not shared relevant information regarding its probe.

“But we always said if there is anything specific and relevant, and communicated to us, we will look into it. And that had been said from day one,” he told a Canadian TV channel, according to a media house release.

Making it clear that US-India relations were not under his purview, he felt New Delhi was cooperating with the US because of “inputs which are legally presentable”.

“The investigation in the case of the US as far as I know and understand… is at a much (more) advanced stage, and therefore, I presume, that there would be better information shared with India,” he added.

Asked whether the Canadian NSA did not share actionable intelligence during the nine days she spent in India, Verma said “conversations took place,” but no such “specific and relevant inputs” were provided. “Conversations could have allegations, conversation could have some facts of the case, but allegations and facts do not make it specific and relevant. So we need to have those facts,” he said.

Western media has reported that US security agencies had “thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate” India designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu and “issued a warning to India’s government over concerns it was involved in the plot.” US President Joe Biden had “raised the matter” with PM Narendra Modi in September at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, reports had further claimed.