ARINDAM Bagchi, spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Sunday, refuted a report in ‘The Intercept’ that claimed an MEA secret memorandum issued in April 2023 shows India was targeting Sikh separatists with a “sophisticated crackdown scheme” in the West.

Bagchi said: “We strongly assert that such reports are fake and completely fabricated. There is no such memo.”

He added: “This is part of a sustained disinformation campaign against India. The outlet in question is known for propagating fake narratives peddled by Pakistani intelligence. The posts of the authors confirm this linkage.”

Bagchi said: “Those who amplify such fake news only do so at the cost of their own credibility.”

According to The Intercept, the memo it had obtained “lists several Sikh dissidents under investigation by India’s intelligence agencies, including the Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.”

The Intercept said that the memo does not explicitly order the killings of Sikh activists, but calls on Indian consular officials operating in the U.S. and Canada to work in cooperation with India’s Research and Analysis Wing, the National Investigation Agency, and the Intelligence Bureau.

This part of the memo seems superfluous and suspicious as it is well known that Indian diplomats have always cooperated with these agencies just as diplomats of all other countries cooperate with their countries’ intelligence and investigative agencies.