Amid tensions over the Biden administration's allegations against the Indian government over an alleged "foiled" assassination plot of a Khalistani terrorist on American soil, a top American official announced that the Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray's India's. According to US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, the investigating officer will visit New Delhi next week.
The latest announcement from Garcetti came during an event in New Delhi, where he claimed America is giving top priority to India. "There’s a great awakening in America. It’s happening in business and government, where everybody’s like ‘I got to understand India," said Garcetti.
“This was the Number 1 country she [US Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen] went to outside the United States. Four times this year. The Secretary of State [Antony Blinken] just came here for the third time. Secretary of Defense [Lloyd Austin] for the second time. The FBI director is here next week," he announced.
What happened so far
Earlier last week, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta, 52, with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun. The US prosecutors informed a Manhattan court that authorities in the Czech Republic arrested and detained Gupta-- a claim that the Indian official vehemently rejected but raised "grave concerns" over the matter.
Why the FBI director's visit is crucial
The visit of the FBI director will come up a week after US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer held a series of bilateral meetings with his Indian counterpart and External Affairs Ministers on Monday. He also held a separate meeting with NSA Ajit Doval.
According to the statement released by the White House, the officials discussed the "foiled" assassination attempt of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil. Although the statement claimed that Finer acknowledged India’s establishment of a Committee of Enquiry to investigate lethal plotting in the United States and the importance of holding accountable anyone found responsible, it did not elaborate further on how India reacted.
