"We expect accountability...": US on Washington Post's claim on India regarding Pannu case

A US State Department official on Wednesday said that the US is regularly working with India in the investigation of allegations related to the conspiracy to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The comments by US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel came after the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, named a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official in connection with the alleged conspiracy to kill Pannu.

India on Tuesday strongly rejected the claims and said the report made "unwarranted and baseless" allegations on a serious matter and the matter was under investigation. Addressing his daily press conference on Tuesday, Patel said, "We expect accountability from the Indian government based on the results of the work of the Indian investigating committee, and we are working with them regularly for more updates."

When asked about this, Patel said, "We will continue to raise our concerns directly with the Government of India at senior levels, but beyond that, I will not discuss it further and will leave it to the Department of Justice." The Washington Post report, which identified the RAW officer as Vikram Yadav and alleged that he was involved in the conspiracy to murder Pannu.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal criticized the US Daily report on Tuesday. "The report in question makes unfair and baseless allegations on a serious matter," he said in New Delhi. Jaiswal said a high-level inquiry committee constituted by New Delhi is yet to investigate the inputs provided by the US on the alleged conspiracy. Also investigating the matter. Speculation and irresponsible comments on this are not helpful.