Amid all the conflicts, turmoil and geopolitical developments in Europe and the Middle East, there is another odd set of developments largely under the radar at present that could yet have a major impact on the Indo-Pacific order unless handled carefully.
I refer to the curious cases of one successful and one thwarted plot to kill Canadian and U.S. Sikhs in North America.
The U.S. has indicted Indian national Nikhil Gupta on charges of trying to hire a hit man to kill a U.S. citizen, widely identified as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer for Sikhs for Justice, which is campaigning for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh state. The hit man was an undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officer and Gupta was caught in a federal sting operation. He is alleged to have been acting under instructions from an unidentified Indian official.