Alleged assassination plot on US soil tests Biden’s bond with India’s leader

On a rainy evening in June, President Biden toasted President Narendra Modi of India at a state dinner at the White House, honoring “two great friends and two great powers” — a gesture of flattery for a leader he enabled to help the United States. States check China’s ambition and counter Russia’s aggression.

According to the White House, the president had no idea that a major test of that relationship was unfolding, even during the state visit.

On June 22, as Mr. Biden was pulling out all the stops diplomatically to bring Mr. Modi closer, a senior official in the Indian government offered a “green light” to clear the assassination plot surrounding a Sikh American on the U.S. border approve. bottom, according to a Justice Department complaint filed Wednesday in a federal court in New York.

There was one mistake: The hitman turned out to be an undercover law enforcement officer, prosecutors said, and the plot was foiled. The suspect, an Indian national accused of arranging the murder, was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, eight days after the state dinner.

According to several American officials, the United States has no information that Mr. Modi was aware of the alleged plot. But the bold plan illustrates how complicated it can be for U.S. presidents to balance their relationships with deeply imperfect allies while trying to maintain their commitment to the values ​​of human rights and democracy.

Mr. Biden’s advisers and analysts say the relationship between the two countries remains as strong as it was that June evening, driven by Mr. Modi’s desire to assert his country as an economic superpower and the need of the Mr Biden to a powerful ally to serve. as a counterweight to Russia and China.

“India remains a strategic partner, and we will continue to work to enhance and strengthen that strategic partnership with India,” John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters Thursday. But, he added, “it has become clear to us that we want everyone, everyone responsible for these alleged crimes to be held accountable.”

After the White House was informed of the alleged assassination plot in July, some officials expressed surprise and even disbelief that India would risk upsetting warming relations with such a brazen plan, U.S. officials said. Some White House advisers expressed personal regret that the invitation for a state visit had been extended at all, officials said.

But publicly the episode has not caused a rift. As Mr. Biden has worked to build a network of global alliances to confront adversaries, he has sometimes softened differences and raised difficult issues privately rather than making them public.

His advisers say he did that by meeting with Mr. Modi at the Group of 20 in India in September, where he emphasized how seriously the United States was taking the allegations, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to detail the conversation to describe.

Mr. Biden also has a keep-the-close strategy with Israel. His aides say the president’s public solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks has allowed him to use his influence privately on issues such as humanitarian aid.

Whether the strategy will work in the long term remains to be seen. But Mr. Biden’s clear preference is to keep friends closer and use positive reinforcement in an effort to change their policies.

“We take these allegations in this investigation very seriously,” Mr. Kirby said on Thursday. “And we’re happy to see that the Indians are too.”

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has often said he does not discuss ongoing investigations with White House officials, usually in response to questions about the Justice Department’s charges against his son Hunter Biden and former President Donald J. Trump.

But criminal investigations of foreigners that have foreign policy implications may be a different matter. Department officials routinely report major investigations to the State Department, members of the intelligence community and even the National Security Council if they could affect international relations, according to current and former law enforcement officials. Then, high-profile gatekeepers, including the national security adviser and chief of staff, decide when and if to brief the president.

The federal prosecution of indicted Indian man Nikhil Gupta began as a relatively routine drug trafficking investigation, federal law enforcement officials said. In late July, about a month after Mr. Gupta’s arrest, the president’s advisers were informed when it became clear that the case was not only a criminal investigation but also involved the Indian government, according to a person familiar with the research.

In early August, Mr. Biden had sent top aides to New Delhi, officials said.

According to U.S. officials, Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, traveled to India in October to detail much of the material the government made public in Wednesday’s indictment. In the days that followed, Indian officials assured Washington that they would begin their own investigation.

In recent months, a parade of American officials — including Ms. Haines, William J. Burns, the CIA director, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Mr. Biden himself — have confronted India with the message that Washington would not tolerate assassination attempts. throughout North America.

U.S. officials say they do not know whether higher levels of the Indian government were involved in the alleged plot. Intelligence agencies continue to try to gather information, but U.S. officials said much will depend on the Indian government’s cooperation.

Mr. Biden has worked to stabilize relations with leaders of authoritarian regimes, most recently when he met with President Xi Jinping of China in San Francisco two weeks ago.

As a candidate, Mr Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over a host of human rights abuses and the killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident who was critical of the Saudi government in columns he wrote for The WashingtonPost. .

In the years since, Mr. Biden has visited Saudi Arabia and shared a fist bump with Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s crown prince. He has changed his position in pursuing long-term bids to lower oil prices and build a relationship between Israel and the Saudis.

Nirav Patel, the CEO of the Asia Group and deputy assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama, said in an interview that “there is a realpolitik orientation to the way that not only this administration, but previous administrations have tried to to manage disagreements. .”

Officials have argued that the work to bring Mr. Modi into the diplomatic fold has helped American officials work with Indian counterparts as the investigation continues.

It has been a different approach from that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose country is home to the largest population of Sikhs outside India. Relations between the two countries changed after Mr Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in Surrey, British Columbia.

Mr. Nijjar was an outspoken supporter of independence for Punjab, a northern Indian state home to a large number of Sikhs. That included Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who U.S. officials said was the intended victim in the case revealed this week.

Modi’s government has pushed for the extradition of 26 Sikh separatists, saying they could pose an extremist threat. The indictment unsealed on Wednesday said Mr. Gupta told an associate that three other murders were planned in Canada, in addition to the plan to kill Mr. Pannun in New York.

Ed Shanahan reporting contributed.