Red lines in relations should not be crossed, says US envoy to India about alleged plot to kill Khalistani leader

New Delhi: There are certain ‘red lines’ in relations between two nations that none should cross, Eric Garcetti, the envoy of Washington DC to New Delhi, said, subtly criticising India for its alleged role in hatching a plot to assassinate Khalistani Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States.

“Any country, having an active member of their government involved in a second country trying to assassinate one of their citizens. That’s, I think, usually a red line for any country,” Garcetti said in an interview with a news agency. “That’s a basic issue of sovereignty. That’s a basic issue of rights.”

He underscored the importance of respecting ‘red lines’ in bilateral relations even as India of late not-so-subtly accused the US of undermining its sovereignty and interfering with its judicial process.

New Delhi conveyed its displeasure to Washington DC after the US prodded it to ensure fair legal processes, not only for the incarcerated AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal but also in the case of freezing of bank accounts of Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The US prosecutors had on November 29 last year alleged that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian incarcerated in the Czech Republic since June, had been an associate of an official of an agency of the government of India and the official had engaged him to hire a hitman to assassinate Pannun, the general counsel of the Khalistani secessionist organisation Sikhs for Justice.

“I think that’s absolutely critical. For any of us, just abstractly, that has to be a red line. No government or government employee can be involved in the alleged assassination of one of your own citizens,” the ambassador of the US to India told ANI.

New Delhi had last year rejected a similar allegation by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government in Ottawa about India’s role in the killing of another Khalistani Sikh extremist in Canada.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, however, agreed to investigate the US allegation about the role of a Government of India official in the alleged plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.“It’s something that we monitor, and I said that. And I said in broad strokes that religious freedom is an important part of any democracy. Protecting minorities is very important. That doesn’t have to be read negatively,” Garcetti said in response to a question on his and the US State Department’s comment on the CAA in India.

Garcetti acknowledged that New Delhi and Washington DC were together investigating the allegation about the role of an official of India in the plot to kill Pannun in the US.

New Delhi of late also dismissed as “misplaced, misinformed, and unwarranted” the concerns expressed by the US State Department over the move to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India. The US ambassador to India also commented on the CAA, reminding New Delhi that the principle of religious freedom and equality under the law was a cornerstone of democracy.

“It's something that we monitor, and I said that. And I said in broad strokes that religious freedom is an important part of any democracy. Protecting minorities is very important. That doesn't have to be read negatively,” Garcetti said in response to a question on his and the US State Department’s comment on the CAA in India.

“We have a deep friendship. It's very respectful. Sometimes we can agree to disagree on things and continue with our business, and we shouldn't take it with thin skin. We shouldn't take it personally,” the US ambassador to India said, adding; “Certainly, I open up the United States, I say all the time, from a place of humility. We have a tonne of flaws. We're open to criticism. We want to listen.”