India to examine information on alleged links to plot to assassinate Sikh separatist in U.S., says Modi

NEW DELHI, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will look into any information it receives on its alleged links to a foiled plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in the United States.

Modi made the comments in an interview with the British daily Financial Times published on Wednesday.

"If someone gives us any information, we would definitely look into it," Modi was quoted as having said. "If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it."

These were the first public remarks made by Modi since the U.S. Justice Department last month filed an indictment against an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist leader, identified by media as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a U.S. citizen.

Modi further said the allegations will not affect ties between India and the United States.

In September Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents played a role in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader based in Canada, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in a Vancouver suburb in June.

But India denied the allegations levelled by Trudeau.

The issue hit the diplomatic relations between India and Canada. It saw a tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the two sides and issuing travel advisories.

In October Canada withdrew its 41 diplomats and 42 accompanying dependents from India following a directive from India's foreign ministry to reduce its diplomatic staff presence in India.

India said it sought parity with Canada in terms of the diplomatic staff posted in each other's missions and threatened it would remove the diplomatic immunity of the Canadian staff if they chose to stay in India.