NSA Ajit Doval stayed back from PM Modi’s U.S. visit for J&K election, say officials 

Explanation on the National Security Advisor’s schedule comes amidst speculation over the Pannun case summons by a New York court even as allegations by Sikh groups could loom over PM’s three-day visit

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval stayed back in India to deal with the security situation arising from the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir election and other “domestic issues”, officials said. The officials dismissed speculation that Mr. Doval dropped out of the visit due to a summons issued by a New York court, even as the Khalistan issue and allegations from Sikh groups against the government appeared to loom over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day U.S. visit.

The summons, in response to a civil suit filed by Khalistani activist and Sikhs for Justice founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, followed by the introduction of a newly drafted Act against ‘Transnational Repression’ that names India in the American Senate, as well as a meeting between the U.S. White House and National Security Council officials and Sikh activists from groups that have campaigned against the Modi government, has led to questions over whether the U.S. government was sending a “sharp message” to New Delhi, diplomats said.

On Thursday, the MEA had referred to the suit filed by Mr. Pannun as “completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations” motivated by an “anti-national and subversive” element, after summons were issued for Mr. Doval, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goyal, security official Vikram Yadav, and a businessman being held by the Department of Justice at a Brooklyn jail, Nikhil Gupta. The government continues a “high-level investigation” over the allegations levelled by the U.S. Department of Justice over an alleged assassination plot against Mr. Pannun, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had however said.  

When asked, government sources pointed to previous U.S. court summons issued in cases filed by Mr. Pannun, against then PM Manmohan Singh, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, and former Minister Kamal Nath over the 1984 Sikh riots cases, as well as summons against Mr. Modi during his previous visits to the U.S. over the 2002 Gujarat anti-Muslim violence. All the summons were “squashed” they said, as the U.S. State Department invoked immunity for serving officials and dignitaries. 

The government has not commented thus far on the introduction of a bipartisan Bill called the ‘Transnational Repression Reporting Act’ in the U.S. Congress on September 19 by Democrat Congressman Adam Schiff that says ‘Transnational Repression’ or the targeting of diaspora members was on “the rise”, particularly from “India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China”. The text of the Act specifically details the preliminary investigation results of the Pannun case that accuse Indian intelligence of the plot, charges which have yet to be proven in court, and calls for mandatory briefing by the government on such cases. 

The MEA also did not respond to requests for a comment on the meeting between White House officials and members of Sikh activist groups, the American Sikh Caucus Committee, the Sikh Coalition, and Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF), all of which have been critical of the Modi government, and were consulted for the Bill on ‘Transnational Repression’. According to Reuters, which reported on the meeting first, U.S. administration officials had “briefed” the activists on their conversations with the Indian government, and had assured them “protection” from being targeted by foreign governments.

According to one former diplomat who had served in the U.S., who asked not to be named, the White House move just two days before Mr. Modi landed, sent a “dual message”, both to the Indian government that this is a matter of concern, as well as domestically to a number of U.S. Congresspersons who have demanded actions to “hold Indian officials involved in the plot accountable, and to send a clear message that there will be consequences for such behaviour”

“It is difficult to understand what US hopes to gain from such a provocation,” wrote former Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University Kanwal Sibal about the White House meeting on social media, adding that the “US is encouraging those who are working against India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, calling for a “serious pushback” from India if the White House did not clarify its position.

Published - September 22, 2024 09:33 pm IST