WASHINGTON: The US expects India's inquiry into the foiled plot to kill a Khalistani activist to nail those "responsible" for it and not merely, by implication, those who tried to carry it out.
Nikhil Gupta, an Indian businessman accused by the US of implementing the plot by trying to hire a killer, is already in US custody after extradition from Poland, where authorities had stopped him.
We have indicted Vikas Yadav, a former RAW operative in the same case and the FBI has put up "Wanted" posters for information leading to his arrest.
"We expect India's Enquiry Committee to conduct a thorough investigation that ultimately holds accountable those found responsible for lethal plotting in the US, " said Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesperson.
"This issue remains the subject of both US and Indian investigations."
The statement came in response to a request seeking clarification from the US State Department about remarks by its spokesperson Vedant Patel at a daily briefing in which he had said the US expects "meaningful accountability" from India.
India had set up an inquiry committee to investigate charges filed by federal US prosecutors in New York in 2023 in a murder-for-hire case accusing Gupta of hiring a man to kill the activist and making an advance payment of $15, 000 for the job. This committee visited Washington D.C. last week to exchange findings and updates with American counterparts.
The day after the meeting, prosecutors filed additional charges naming Yadav as an accused.
The US has kept up the pressure on India through public remarks and private conversations and has demanded accountability, although it has been unclear what exactly is being asked of India.
"We continue to expect and want to see accountability based on the results of that investigation, and certainly the US won't be fully satisfied until there is meaningful accountability resulting from that investigation, " Patel said earlier this week.
Although the new statement does not clarify especially what Patel meant by "meaningful accountability, " it does indicate that Washington D.C. would like the Indian investigation to ultimately hold accountable those "responsible" for it.