NEW DELHI: While the government refrained from making any comment on the merits of the US indictment of Indian national Nikhil Gupta for the foiled plot to assassinate India-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, it confirmed on Thursday that India thrice had consular access to the accused who remains in Czech custody and whose family approached India’s Supreme Court last week seeking an intervention by the central government.
With Canada claiming vindication from Gupta’s indictment, India also reminded Ottawa that the “core” issue between the two countries remained the space given to terrorists who were misusing freedom of expression in Canada to target India.
Gupta was detained by Czech authorities in Prague on June 30 at the instance of US. “We received consular access to Gupta at least on three occasions,’’ MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. The official said he didn’t want to speak more because the matter was sub judice.The petition filed in SC on his behalf alleged that he was served pork and beef in Czech custody. Local authorities, however, have denied this. Gupta is currently fighting a legal battle to prevent his extradition to US. It’s an uphill task as the Czech Republic has an extradition treaty with US and authorities in Prague believe Indian courts don’t have any jurisdiction over Gupta.
Canada, however, has continued to claim it stands vindicated by the US indictment of Gupta and the fact that the US authorities have also implicated an Indian official for allegedly masterminding the plot. Canada has alleged that a similar plot by Indian agents resulted in the killing of another Khalistani activist, Hardeep Nijjar, and PM Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that India had started to realise it won’t be able to “bluster’’ its way out of the problem.
With Canada claiming vindication from Gupta’s indictment, India also reminded Ottawa that the “core” issue between the two countries remained the space given to terrorists who were misusing freedom of expression in Canada to target India.
Gupta was detained by Czech authorities in Prague on June 30 at the instance of US. “We received consular access to Gupta at least on three occasions,’’ MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. The official said he didn’t want to speak more because the matter was sub judice.The petition filed in SC on his behalf alleged that he was served pork and beef in Czech custody. Local authorities, however, have denied this. Gupta is currently fighting a legal battle to prevent his extradition to US. It’s an uphill task as the Czech Republic has an extradition treaty with US and authorities in Prague believe Indian courts don’t have any jurisdiction over Gupta.
Canada, however, has continued to claim it stands vindicated by the US indictment of Gupta and the fact that the US authorities have also implicated an Indian official for allegedly masterminding the plot. Canada has alleged that a similar plot by Indian agents resulted in the killing of another Khalistani activist, Hardeep Nijjar, and PM Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that India had started to realise it won’t be able to “bluster’’ its way out of the problem.
A day later, India reminded Canada that its “core’’ issue with Ottawa remained the space Canadian authorities continue to give to extremists, terrorists and anti-India elements. The government denied that there had been any “tonal shift’’ in India’s position as claimed by Trudeau.
“Our position has been quite consistent. And whenever this issue has been raised, we have highlighted how we see the problem. The core issue remains the space that is given to extremists and terrorists, and anti-India elements in that country,’’ Bagchi said. “We would hope that they would act against such extremist, elements that are misusing the freedom of speech and expression in their country,” Bagchi added.
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