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India denies reports of “secret memo” against Nijjar
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi denied the existence of any such memo, adding that the reports that stated otherwise were part of a “disinformation campaign” against India
MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said there was no secret memo against Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar / YouTube/MEA India
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) denied reports that claimed New Delhi sent a “secret memo” to its consulates in North America to launch a “sophisticated crackdown scheme” against Sikh diaspora organizations in these countries.
Shutting down the reports as “fake and completely fabricated”, MEA’s official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on November 10 said “there is no such memo.”
Bagchi’s statement came after a report was published by The Intercept which said a “secret memorandum” was issued in April 2023 by the MEA and had names of several Sikh disputants under investigation by Indian intelligence agencies, including the Khalistani terrorist and Canadian national Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed in Surrey, Vancouver, on June 18.
The Intercept’s report says the memo “does not explicitly order the killings of Sikh activists” but called on Indian consular officials to cooperate with Indian intelligence agencies.
Aside from denying the existence of any such memo, Bagchi maintained that it was part of “a sustained disinformation campaign against India.” He said, “The outlet in question is known for propagating fake narratives peddled by Pakistani intelligence. The posts of the authors confirm this linkage. Those who amplify such fake news only do so at the cost of their own credibility."
India and Canada have been tied in a diplomatic row since September when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leveled allegations against India for being potentially involved in the assassination of Nijjar. New Delhi immediately refuted the allegations.
Trudeau has raised the Nijjar case several times since he made the allegations. The North American country has sought Indian cooperation in the investigation. However, India has maintained that they have yet to see relevant information and evidence before extending cooperation.
Toward the end of November 2023, the U.S. named an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta in a murder-for-hire indictment after it foiled an assassination plot of Sikhs for Justice (SJF) general counsel, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The indictment said Gupta along with an Indian government official identified in the indictment as “CC-1” plotted to eliminate Pannun on American soil.
Trudeau once against brought attention to the investigation of Nijjar’s assassination after the indictment, which also mentioned Nijjar, was made public. “The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we've been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously," he told reporters in Ottawa on November 29.
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