New Delhi: The United States on Tuesday rejected reports claiming Washington considering expelling Indian diplomats amid tense ties between India and China.
Speaking during a press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that he was unfamiliar with any such report and was not aware of any expulsion of Indian diplomats.
“I am not familiar with this report that we expelled Indian diplomats…I’m not aware of any expulsion,” he said.
This comes as earlier this month, India recalled six diplomats from Canada after they were declared “persons of interest” by the Canadian government, amid the ongoing investigation into the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Furthermore, the US also reacted to the case of Vikash Yadav, a former employee of the Indian government who is allegedly involved in directing a foiled plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
When asked about Yadav’s possible extradition, Miller stated that the extradition matter comes under the prerogative of the US Justice Department. He also mentioned that the US has been in dialogue with the Indian government on this issue.
“I would refer you to the Justice Department on that when it comes to extradition. That’s a legal matter that we differ from DOJ. But I will tell you that we have been in dialogue with the government of India. They sent a delegation here two weeks ago to directly brief US government officials on the status of their investigation, and we briefed them on the status of our investigation. We made it clear that at that meeting, there will be real accountability,” Miller said.
In mid-October, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) named Yadav as ‘wanted’ in a poster related to his alleged role in directing the foiled assassination plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment in the foiled assassination plot against Pannun was no longer an employee of the government of India.
(Inputs from ANI)_
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