New Delhi: Very few were aware that US President Joe Biden had sent Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Burns to India in August, a month ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
The reason?
The US wanted to take up a serious matter with India — an alleged conspiracy by an Indian national to hire a hitman to murder US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, reported Reuters.
US authorities claimed to have found evidence of an Indian government official masterminding an attempted assassination plot from India.
The Washington Post reported that US spy chief Burns had travelled to India in early August and told Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) head Ravi Sinha that India needed to investigate the plot and hold those responsible accountable.
“The United States needed an assurance that this would not happen again,” Burns told Sinha, the Washington Post wrote citing a senior Biden administration official.
The alleged plot to kill New York resident Pauun, a leader of Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice, came to light in end-July.
It led to high-level discussions between the two friendly nations, with US officials demanding a thorough investigation by their Indian counterparts.
Biden even personally raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meet when the US President was in India for the G20 meet in September.
