Who Shamed India
America just dropped a diplomatic grenade: a US court case links an Indian national and an ex-intelligence officer to a murder‑for‑hire plot on US soil. The hard question now reads plainly in English: “Did the Indian government attempt to hire local hitmen on US soil to kill one of its citizens?” The filings also state, "Nikhil Gupta has pleaded guilty to his crime.” If true, this is not cloak‑and‑dagger; it’s a full-blown reputational crisis.
The problem with the Indian Government under BJP rule, from the very beginning, has been building a domestic narrative about how powerful and determined it is to destroy the so-called enemies of India. Now those tactics, the same intelligence playbook used against terror elements across the border, are being awkwardly exported to Western soil in Canada and the USA.
It’s laughable and alarming: what looked like decisive action at home now reads like inexperience and sloppy tradecraft abroad. Spies get caught; that’s the risk. But such breaches should be handled in closed diplomatic channels, not paraded in court filings and headline diplomacy.
So, where is the government’s clear answer? Did R&AW’s shadow operations cross a red line into foreign soil? Why was a serving official allegedly involved, and who in the chain of command authorised or ignored it? Is this another Canada-style diplomatic fiasco or a worrying pattern of outsourcing dirty work that now embarrasses India in Washington? And if trade talks and tariff rows suddenly get spicy, are we watching policy held hostage to scandal?
These are not Bollywood plot twists; they are court records with names, dates and money trails. The public deserves a full accounting: a transparent inquiry, answers on Vikas Yadav’s role, and clarity on whether national security agencies acted within law or beyond it. Until then, every handshake in Washington will carry a question mark and every trade deal a potential price.
