While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was enjoying the pomp and circumstances of a state visit to the White House last year, his spy chiefs were plotting to assassinate a prominent dissident on American soil, according to US security officials and Indians.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill put up all the decorations, with lotus flowers, the symbol of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, decorating the South Lawn, and a vegetarian chef flown in from California for the June 22 event .
Meanwhile, Modi’s spy service was completing the coup, according to an explosive report published in the Washington Post.
Assassination is a “priority now,” wrote Vikram Yadav, an officer at the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The idea that a friendly nation would order a massacre on American soil, potentially triggering a diplomatic freeze, surprised Western officials as the details emerged.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the White House last year, where he was welcomed by first lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden on June 22.
So why would they do it?
“Because they knew they could get away with it,” a Western official told the newspaper.
Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American citizen, was the target of the plot, which was ultimately foiled.
But in June 2022, Yardav sent his details, including his New York address, to a hired team of hitmen.
As soon as the would-be killers were able to confirm that Pannun was home, he said:“It will be a thumbs up from us.”
Details of the plot have already been laid out in an indictment, but Yardav’s identity and affiliation have not been previously reported, confirming for the first time that the plot was directed by India’s spy agency.
Current and former Western intelligence officials say senior officers are involved and that the target was approved by RAW chief at the time, Samant Goel.
Neither Doval nor Goel reportedly responded to requests for comment.
The latest revelations are in line with an increasingly aggressive stance taken by India.
Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun after plot on his life was foiled
Modi enjoyed all the spectacle that the White House has to offer.
Last year, Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the killing of a Sikh separatist leader there.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed by two masked assailants in the parking lot of a Sikh temple near Vancouver in June 2023.
He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder after he advocated for a Sikh state separate from India. The Indian government has rejected any suggestion that he is involved.
Both plots arose during a wave of killings in Pakistan. At least 11 Sikh or Kashmiri separatists, condemned as terrorists by the Modi government, have been killed in the last two years.
And officials say RAW has stepped up surveillance and harassment of foreign critics.
Canada accused India of orchestrating the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 46, last year. He was a strong supporter of the Khalistan separatist movement, which calls for the creation of a new independent homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab district of northern India.
Tensions between Canada and India boiled over after the assassination.
The result is a diplomatic conundrum for the Biden administration, which has been cultivating deeper ties with India.
The report says that last July the White House began examining ways to respond without risking a deeper diplomatic rift. CIA chief Bill Burns is among those sent to New Delhi to demand answers.
The plot against Pannun was interrupted when an Indian recruited to orchestrate the murder approached a hitman, who turned out to be a DEA informant, according to court documents.
Nikhil Gupta, described in the indictment as an Indian drug and weapons trafficker, was arrested in Prague on June 30 and remains in prison. He denies the charges and is awaiting a ruling on his extradition.