India Raises Security Concerns Over Khalistan Threat To Ambassador Kwatra

WASHINGTON, DC (ANI) – The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on December 20 confirmed that India has taken “seriously” the recent threat issued by US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra. The issue has been raised with authorities in Washington.

In a video, Pannun, an India-designated terrorist holding American and Canadian citizenship, alleged that Kwatra is on the radar of pro-Khalistan Sikhs in the United States. He accused the Ambassador of coordinating with Russian authorities to provide intelligence inputs on the Khalistan network in the US.

“As and when such threats are issued, we take them very seriously and raise them with the US government. In this particular case, we have raised it with the US government, and it is our expectation that they will take our security concerns seriously and act on it,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a weekly briefing in New Delhi.

Ambassador Kwatra, who assumed his position in August this year, has been at the forefront of strengthening India-US ties amid ongoing threats from Khalistan separatists targeting Indian missions and the Hindu community in the US.

In October, the MEA had addressed another case involving Pannun, confirming that a suspect named in a US Justice Department indictment was no longer an employee of the Indian government. The indictment alleged a foiled assassination plot against Pannun in New York City. According to US prosecutors, an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, was recruited to hire a hitman for the plot, which was thwarted by US authorities.

India continues to express confidence in the US government’s ability to address its security concerns regarding such threats.