US says it wants 'meaningful accountability' on results of India's probe into Pannun murder-for-hire plot

Washington: The US has said it would not be fully satisfied until there is "meaningful accountability" resulting from India's investigations into the alleged foiled plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. The Indian government has denied its association or involvement with such a plot to kill an American national on US soil. Following allegations by the US, New Delhi had set up an inquiry committee to investigate the matter. “We continue to expect and want to see accountability based on the results of that investigation, and certainly the United States won't be fully satisfied until there is meaningful accountability resulting from that investigation,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a news conference. Patel was responding to a question on last week's visit of an Indian Enquiry Committee to the US for talks.

“There was valuable engagement with India's inquiry committee last week, and information was exchanged between our two governments to further our respective investigations. We understand that the Indian inquiry committee will continue its investigation, and we expect to see further steps based on last week's conversations,” Patel said. “Beyond that, I'm just not going to address this in further detail given that this is an issue that is active and remains under investigation and ongoing under both of our countries,” he said.

Last week, Vikas Yadav, a former Indian government official was charged by the US authorities for his alleged role in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun. His co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic last year and is languishing in a US jail after extradition. Patel's comments came days after State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US was satisfied with India's cooperation in the case.