Biden Admin satisfied with accountability it sought from India in Pannun case: Garcetti

Washington, May 10 (PTI) The Biden Administration is satisfied with the accountability it has demanded from India on the allegations that its officials were involved in an alleged plot to kill a separatist Sikh leader on American soil, a top US diplomat said Thursday.

"When I was referring to a relationship that might have bumps along the road, this would be potentially the first big fight in a relationship. And so far, knock on wood, I would say the administration is satisfied with the accountability that we've demanded on this, because this is a red line for America, for our citizens," US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said in response to a question at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a top American think-tank.

"A core part of what we need to do is to comment on the details of an ongoing criminal case that's happening. But there is a criminal case. There's an indictment that's been brought. And if there is any connection to State actors in that, there has to be accountability. We expect that not only from our side, but we expect India to have that accountability," he said.

"So, there's been a commission of inquiry that India has brought together, and that we expect, while we do the criminal case that is about American justice, that there need to be consequences and shared information. So far, one of the most difficult things you can do as an ambassador in diplomacy, I have been satisfied with what they have done. I think the administration is, but we have many steps still to go," Garcetti said.

Garcetti appeared in a discussion with Michael Froman, the former US Trade Representatives under the Obama Administration.

Froman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to be re-elected, which everyone is reassuming.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, recently named a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer in connection with the alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil last year.

India strongly rejected the claims, saying that the report made "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputations on a serious matter and that an investigation into the case was underway. PTI