US Deputy NSA Meets Jaishankar in Delhi in Wake of Alleged ‘Plot to Kill Pannun’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Principal Deputy NSA of the United States Jon Finer on Monday and discussed various bilateral and global issues. The meeting in the national capital was held in the backdrop of a case filed in a US court by American prosecutors against an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a plot to kill a Khalistani leader on American soil.

“Good to meet Principal Deputy NSA of the US Jon Finer this afternoon. Useful exchange of views on the global situation. Discussed taking our bilateral cooperation forward,” Jaishankar said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

READ MORE: Who is Nikhil Gupta, What’s His Alleged Role in Plot to Kill Gurpatwant Pannun in US?

On Wednesday, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta, 52, of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh extremist. The US prosecutors informed a Manhattan court that authorities in the Czech Republic arrested and detained Gupta.

A day later, India described as a “matter of concern” the US linking an Indian official to a man charged with conspiring to kill Pannun and asserted that follow-up action would be taken based on findings of an inquiry panel investigating the allegations. “…The US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gunrunners, terrorists and other extremists,” he said. “We take such inputs very seriously,” he added.

After India constituted a probe team to investigate allegations relating to the foiled plot, the United States welcomed New Delhi’s decision, with US State Secretary Antony Blinken praising the move as “good and appropriate.” “…we’re glad to see that the Indians are too announcing their own efforts to investigate this,” John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference.