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India seeks US cooperation for Pannun extradition
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India is in touch with the governments of the US and Canada about the crimes that their citizen, Pannun, is responsible for
Sikhs for Justice(SFJ) general counsel and Khalistani extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, is a wanted criminal in India and the matter of his extradition has been raised with the governments of the United States and Canada, where he holds citizenship status.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters at a weekly press briefing on November 7 that Pannun’s recent threats are being treated seriously. He did not specify details of the actions being taken by authorities.
The Khalistani leader recently threatened to blow up the Indian parliament on the 22nd year anniversary of the deadly parliamentary attacks of 2001 that claimed the lives of 9 people. He previously issued threats to those traveling by Air India flights, saying they would be putting their lives in danger if the warning was not heeded to. He also called for picketing at Toronto and Vancouver airports to disrupt inbound and outbound Air India flights.
In regard to the threat to the parliament, Bagchi said, “We do take threats seriously…We are caught in a bind here. I don’t want to amplify or give too much of credence to extremists who make threats and get lot of coverage. But on the other hand, we take this seriously, and in this particular case, I know that we have taken up the matter with the US and the Canadian authorities about this threat.”
“Extremists and terrorists have a tendency of wanting to get coverage on the issue and I wouldn’t want to dignify them that way,” Bagchi added. On the threat to Air India flights, he added, “We would condemn any threat of this nature. We take this seriously and our security agencies will take appropriate action.”
On being asked if India has requested the US to prosecute and arrest Pannun in light of the slew of threats issued by him, Bagchi said “(Pannun) is wanted by our agencies for violation of the law and there is a process under which we seek assistance, we seek that they be prosecuted. It depends on where the crime is committed. In our case, I think the requests have gone through, detailing the kind of crimes that he is responsible for, in India.”
“For the threats he is making there, yes we have of course flagged the concerns to our partners about any threats by extremists or terrorists against India, against Indian diplomats, or to our properties etc. and we do take it up from time to time. There is ongoing conversation, there is security cooperation, some of it we have seen results, some of it we haven’t. This is the ongoing process.”
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