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The
request was made by the National Investigations Agency (NIA),
India's federal anti-terrorism agency, in meetings with visiting
FBI Director Christopher Wray, said the official, who works at
NIA and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The issue of what New Delhi says are Sikh separatists operating
against India from U.S. soil was discussed in "greater detail by
a team of internal security officials from both countries", the
official said.
"India has requested the U.S. officials to share inputs on
suspected individuals who have in recent years been recruited
and embedded in the separatist movement," the official said.
An NIA spokesperson said the agency did not have a comment when
reached by Reuters.
The U.S. embassy's spokesperson said meetings between Wray and
Indian officials were underway and he could not share details as
yet.
The movement for a Sikh homeland in northern India, crushed
decades ago, has burst onto the global stage in recent months as
the United States and Canada accused Indian officials of
involvement in assassination plots against Sikh separatist
leaders in North America.
New Delhi denies any connection to a June murder in a Vancouver
suburb but has announced an investigation into U.S. concerns
about an alleged plot in New York.
It says such plots were not government policy and it is not
hunting down Sikh separatists abroad. At the same time, Indian
security and foreign ministry officials say Sikh separatists in
North America and Europe raising money, training people and
campaigning for India’s division, is a concern for New Delhi.
India has also sought to distance the FBI chief's visit - the
first in years - from the New York case, saying Wray's trip had
been planned for some time.
(Reporting by Rupam Jain, editing by YP Rajesh and Angus MacSwan)
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