The alleged botched attempt to kill Khalistani terrorist Pannun is but a small blemish on the large bilateral canvas between India and the United States.
On January 26, 2020, New Delhi will celebrate Republic Day, but US President Joe Biden will not be there. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked Biden to be the chief guest for the R-Day celebrations at their bilateral meeting on September 8, which took place on the sidelines of the G20 conference. Additionally, the QUAD Summit has been rescheduled for a later date in 2024.
Following the issue over the alleged conspiracy to kill Sikhs for Justice founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and Khalistani designated terrorist, certain media sources referred to it as Biden’s snub to India. How reliable are the rumours that Biden “snubbed” India?
Within the larger context of Indo-US bilateral relations, the alleged aborted murder attempt on Khalistani terrorist Pannun is really a minor wrinkle. It never was supposed to be the focal point. The US president’s State of the Union speech, which was supposed to happen before January 30, is the main cause of Joe Biden’s cancellation of his trip, which was first mentioned by US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti in September. This is a crucial speech because it marks the beginning of Biden’s presidential campaign. You will have a new US president in January 2025. Another issue is that the speech was given on February 9 of last year.
Second, the postponement of the QUAD meeting is the primary reason the US president is not attending. The main reason for the postponement of the summit is that Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, is unable to participate because of significant issues with his own political system related to the funding crisis. Kishida is required to be in Tokyo for the Diet sessions of the Japanese parliament during this time.
Third, January 26, 2024, is the date of the Australian National Day. Therefore, Anthony Albanese, the premier of Australia, was unable to arrive earlier. Thus, January 27 was the only date that was available, and it was too near. The timing was too near to Biden’s State of the Union address, according to his political strategists. Because he is trailing Donald Trump in political surveys, the US president chose to take a step back and consider his political base. It has nothing to do with the alleged botched assassination attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Was Gurpatwant Pannun mentioned when the FBI director was in India?
Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, spent three days in the city. He had meetings with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, D-G NIA Dinkar Gupta, RAW secretary Ravi Sinha, and CBI director.
The topic of Pannun was not brought up. The topics of discussion included Khalistani operations in the US, specifically those related to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, as well as events in Sacramento and along the Eastern Coast. There were also talks about how to work together against terrorism, guarantee that funding to terror groups is prevented, and put an end to money laundering operations.
Pannun is not the main problem because the US Justice Department’s indictment was carried out by a committee led by the National Security Agency (NSA). The evidence has not yet been released, notwithstanding the indictment. If India was ever involved in this, the Indian side will take the necessary steps after the evidence is presented to make sure that similar incidents don’t occur again.
