India’s campaign of transnational repression poses growing challenge to US national security
Washington: A briefing held on July 14, 2026, on Capitol Hill examined the implications of India’s campaign of transnational repression for US national security.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the briefing titled “India’s Transnational Repression: Implications for US National Security” was co-sponsored by Equitas Forum USA, Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), Dalit Solidarity Forum, the New York State Council of Churches, and the Sikh Coalition. It was attended by Congressman Jim McGovern, Alison MacManus, Katie Larocque, Stephen Schneck, Daniel Stanton, Peter Friedrich, Harjot Singh, Layleen, Rasheeda Tyler, and Riya Chakrabarti, among others.
Participants were told that in May 2023, Vikash Yadav, an Indian government employed linked to India’s external intelligence agency RAW, recruited Nikhil Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, in New York.
The briefing stated that Gupta offered US$100,000 to a hired killer—who was, in fact, an undercover U.S. law enforcement operative—and paid US$15,000 in advance in Manhattan on June 9, 2023. Gupta was arrested in Prague on June 30, 2023, extradited to the United States, and on February 13, 2026, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Vikash Yadav remains at large.
The participants were further informed that only days earlier, on June 18, 2023, Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. In July 2026, under Operation Hard Ball, US authorities charged Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his associate Satinderjit Singh (Goldy Brar) of ordering Nijjar’s killing. The investigation resulted in indictments against 37 individuals across the US, Canada and Europe, while 24 suspects were arrested.
Speakers at the briefing said these incidents were not isolated acts by rogue individuals but part of a coordinated campaign aimed at silencing Sikh, Hindu, Dalit and Christian diaspora voices, suppressing freedom of expression beyond India’s borders and eroding the US-India partnership.
The briefing noted that members of the US Congress are calling for greater accountability, targeted sanctions and stronger safeguards to counter transnational repression. Participants argued that India’s denials appear increasingly unconvincing in light of guilty pleas, financial evidence and documented links to intelligence operatives, emphasizing that alleged foreign assassination plots on US soil require concrete action and accountability rather than quiet diplomatic engagement.
