Pannun inquiry report ‘positive first step’, but process not done yet: US envoy
Outgoing US ambassador Eric Garcetti said the US remains open to a positive role in helping India and Canada address the fallout of the killing of another Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar
An Indian inquiry committee’s report on the foiled plot to kill US-based Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a “very positive first step” but doesn’t mark a “closed chapter” for both countries as action remains to be taken, outgoing US ambassador Eric Garcetti said on Thursday.

Garcetti, a political appointee of US President Joe Biden who is set to step down this week, said in an interview that both countries have a deeper understanding of each other’s perspective on key matters such as New Delhi’s concerns about the activities of pro-Khalistan elements and Washington’s call for accountability and systemic reforms in the wake of the so-called “murder-for-hire” plot.
He said the US remains open to a positive role in helping India and Canada address the fallout of the killing of another Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but made it clear that “a lot of people overplay” the cooperation between the US and Canada as members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
Asked specifically if the Indian high-powered enquiry committee’s report, announced by the Union home ministry on Wednesday, marked a closed chapter as far as the foiled plot is concerned, Garcetti replied: “I see it as a very positive step. It’s the delivery of what India promised – accountability and systemic reforms. We haven’t seen the report yet and obviously there’s a case still going on in New York.”
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Noting that the US and India have covered a lot of ground in the past few years in appreciating each other’s concerns and sensitivities, he said, “When it comes to threats to Indian diplomats like in San Francisco and things like that, there’s really been growth and understanding of the perspective of India and vice versa, when we’ve been very clear about lines that cannot be crossed.
“India has taken that seriously and governments make mistakes. People should be held accountable, and this is a very positive first step.”
He pointed out the legal case in the US on the foiled plot “has its own trajectory” but the Indian enquiry committee’s report “opens up the path”. He added, “It’s not a closed chapter for India or for America, because the report itself says [that it is] recommending action.”
This action will have to be taken and US “prosecutors will have to win victories”, he said.
The Union home ministry said on Wednesday that the enquiry committee set up by the government in November 2023 to investigate allegations about the plot to kill Pannun on American soil has recommended legal action against an individual whose “criminal links and antecedents” came to light earlier. The committee, headed by a senior official of the National Security Council, also recommended “functional improvements” in procedures and steps to ensure systematic controls in dealing with such matters.
The home ministry’s statement didn’t name the individual against whom legal action was recommended but people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that the individual is Vikash Yadav, named by the US justice department in October 2024 as the Indian official who allegedly directed the plot to kill Pannun.
Yadav, a former officer of the Central Reserve Police Force deputed to the Research and Analysis Wing, was removed from his position in the intelligence agency and subsequently sacked by the government.
The timing of the home ministry’s statement is significant as it came less than a week before the end of the Biden administration.
When Garcetti was asked how he would contrast India’s handling of similar cases with the US and Canada, especially in light of reports of intelligence cooperation between Washington and Ottawa, he replied that “a lot of people overplay” the collaboration between the US and Canada as members of the Five Eyes alliance. He also suggested that Canada could learn from the US’s handling of the murder for hire plot.
“Our criminal justice systems are independent from even us as political appointees, let alone between each other. My deep understanding is both in Canada and in the US, the criminal justice system has pursued these things independent from each other and independent from political interference,” he said.
“But I would hope that two dear friends of the US will have the space in the coming months to really have a rapprochement, to be able to, as we’ve done, listen to each other, hold accountable where there’s criminal activity, and also look at where we can have diplomatic healing that I think India and Canada have always had in a very close way,” he said.
“If the US can play a positive role there, I think that we’ve been pretty consistent about being open to that. But we’ve also been clear, out of respect, [that] these are two sovereign states that will talk to each other and often have to take the actions they need to take,” he added.
While the Indian enquiry committee was created to investigate information provided by the US and its members travelled to Washington for meetings with key interlocutors, Indian officials have maintained that Canada hasn’t provided any evidence to back up its allegations about Indian government agents being linked to the killing of Nijjar.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s public accusations regarding Nijjar’s killing sent bilateral relations to an all-time low, with New Delhi dismissing the allegations as “absurd”. Both sides expelled several diplomats after Ottawa sought to question India’s envoy and five other officials as “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s murder. India has also accused the Trudeau government of giving space and “safe haven” to Khalistani elements.