US officials meet Sikh activists ahead of Biden's meeting with India's Modi

Senior US officials have met with Sikh advocates to discuss threats facing Sikhs in the United States, including a foiled murder plot against a prominent activist last year, several attendees said.

The officials briefed a group of Sikh advocates on Thursday about the government's ongoing conversations with India in a closed-door meeting organised by the National Security Council, the attendees told Reuters news agency on Friday.

Biden will have a one-on-one discussion with Modi on the sidelines of a joint meeting of the United States, India, Japan and Australia on Saturday.

India, despite its poor human rights record and failure to protect religious and ethnic minorities, has featured prominently in Washington's stepped-up diplomacy to deepen strategic partnerships aimed at countering the influence of China.

Senior US officials on Thursday sought to assure the Sikh community that Washington remained committed to protecting Americans from acts of "transnational repression" — a term that refers to efforts by a government to harass, threaten or harm people on foreign soil.

They also provided an update on efforts by US law enforcement to educate local police about the threats and to encourage Sikhs to report any threats or harassment.

"Yesterday, we had the chance to thank senior federal government officials for saving lives of Sikh Americans and for vigilance in protecting our community," said Pritpal Singh, the founder of the advocacy group the American Sikh Caucus Committee, who attended the meeting.

"We asked them to do more and we will hold them to their assurances that they will."

Assassination plots in Canada and US

The meeting with senior White House and US intelligence officials came ahead of President Joe Biden's meeting with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The United States has been pushing India to investigate the murder plot against dual US-Canada citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, as it continues its own criminal investigation into India's possible involvement.

Last September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country's intelligence agency were pursuing credible allegations that Modi's government was behind the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist who was vocal in supporting the creation of a new separate Sikh state in northern Indian called "Khalistan."

Two months later, the US Justice Department charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with trying to arrange the murder of Pannun, another prominent Sikh separatist, at the behest of an unnamed Indian intelligence official.

India has denied involvement in both incidents.

Gupta has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in New York City, while four other Indian nationals in Canada are facing charges of murder and conspiracy in the death of Nijjar.

This week, Pannun filed a civil lawsuit against India over its alleged attempt to have him killed.

Following Nijjar's killing, the Reuters news agency reported that the FBI and the Canadian Royal Mounted Police privately warned at least seven Sikh activists that their lives could be in grave danger, including Pritpal Singh.

Since then, many Sikh activists in the United States and Canada, including some elected officials, have said they continue to face threats and harassment.

While the US has expressed concern over the Sikh incident, it has so far emphasised the importance of the relationship with New Delhi, given shared security interests.