US Extradites Indian in Pannun Plot as Sullivan Visits India to Boost Tech Ties
New Delhi: As Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national whom the United States has accused of being involved in an alleged plot to kill US citizen and pro-Khalistan extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has reportedly been extradited from the Czech Republic to the US on an American request, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan began a two-day visit to New Delhi on Monday, when he is expected ro raise the issue with India. The technological partnership between India and the US has, however, been billed as the main objective of the visit. Mr Sullivan met external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Monday and had a “comprehensive discussion on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues”. Mr Jaishankar said he was “delighted to welcome” Mr Sullivan and said he was “confident that the India-US Strategic Partnership will continue to advance strongly”.
Mr Sullivan also met national security adviser Ajit Doval and is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. The visit will also be an opportunity to strengthen the “United States-India Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership” and to “advance their shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region” with an eye on the growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a connectivity initiative envisaged to connect India to Europe via the Middle East that was launched at the G-20 summit hosted by India last year, is also expected to be discussed during the visit, along with the current situation in the Middle East arising from the Israel-Gaza conflict and Iran-Israel tensions, apart from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Mr Sullivan is being accompanied by a delegation of senior US government officials and industry leaders.
It may be recalled that the United States has also been demanding for the past several months that India take action on an alleged plot to kill Pannun last year ,in which the Americans have claimed that two Indian nationals, including an Indian government employee, was involved. New Delhi had earlier set up a high-level committee to probe the matter. It may be noted that the “Indian government employee” who was accused by the US last year of allegedly masterminding the plot to kill Pannun on American soil was identified a few months ago by a top US media publication as Vikram Yadav, then working in India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, according to media reports. The US media report is also said to have indicated that senior figures in India’s security establishment knew of the alleged plot beforehand, according to other reports. In the purported plot, the Indian government employee was alleged to have directed the other Indian national, Mr Gupta, who was arrested by the Czech authorities in June last year and has just been extradited to the US.
According to media reports, the Czech government took the decision to extradite Mr Gupta to the US earlier this month, on June 3, following the completion of the judicial process in the European nation after a US request for extradition.
On Monday, the NSAs are due to discuss bilateral issues and review the India-US partnership on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They will also chair the first annual review of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) that was earlier launched jointly by the two nations. On Tuesday, the two NSAs will address participants at an India-US iCET Roundtable with Industry CEOs, organised by trade body Confederation of Indian Industry. The “iCET aims to position the two countries as trusted technology partners by building technology value chains and support the co-development and co-production of items (and) also aims to address regulatory restrictions, export controls and mobility barriers through a standing mechanism”. It may be noted that the “two NSAs have driven a concerted effort to engage in identified areas of collaboration in diverse domains of new and emerging technologies, including Semiconductors, AI, Quantum Computing, Defence Innovation, Space and Advanced Telecommunications”. In subsequent meetings, “the two sides have included new areas within the iCET framework, including biotechnology, critical minerals & rare earths processing technologies, digital connectivity & digital public infrastructure and advanced materials”. The ongoing visit “gives the NSAs an opportunity to review the progress and set new priorities and deliverables for iCET”.
It may be recalled that US President Joe Biden had discussed the forthcoming visit of Mr Sullivan to India with Mr Modi in a congratulatory phone call made (on the morning of June 6 in the wake of the NDA’s electoral victory on June 4. Mr Biden had also met Mr Modi very briefly on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy last week. Mr Modi had said both nations would “continue to work together for the global good”. Photographs had showed Mr Modi shaking hands with President Biden and the two leaders warmly embracing each other. “It’s always a pleasure to meet President Joe Biden. India and USA will keep working together to further global good”, Mr Modi had posted last week on X.