Why in News? India’s R&AW was in the spotlight, as reports came in from the US, Canada and Australia of the alleged killing of Indian-origin Khalistani separatist operatives around the world, spearheaded by the agency.

What are the Charges?

1. America believes that India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) had approved an assassination operation (that was foiled) against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun - a Khalistani activist lawyer of US and Canadian nationality.
2. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested and charged three Indian nationals for conspiring in the Nijjar killing, and it is investigating their links to Indian agencies.
3. Reports from Australia claim that R&AW operatives had been expelled in 2020 after Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) concluded that they carried out surveillance of Khalistani separatists in the country.

How has New Delhi Reacted? The Ministry of External Affairs has consistently held that extra-judicial killings are not “government policy”. However, there is a variance in the government’s responses on the claims of US, Canada and Australia: silence on Australia; angry denials and punitive measures against Canada; the setting up of a “high level inquiry” into the US’s indictment.

Will There be a Diplomatic Fallout? With the exception of Pakistan and now Canada, India’s ties with the countries where such operations have allegedly been carried out remain strong. India is certainly not the only country to be accused of carrying out extra-judicial, extra-territorial attacks. However, in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies, some informal rules apply: such operations must not be executed in friendly countries, there should be no links between the operatives and diplomatic missions, and finally they don’t get caught.