AAP Leader Raghav Chadha’s Meeting With Pro-Khalistani UK MP Preet Gill Under the Scanner: Sources

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s recent meeting with British Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill, known to be a sympathiser of Khalistani separatist groups, is under the scanner, sources in the Indian intelligence establishment told News18.

Gill, a Labour MP, had posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) on March 21 in which she and Chadha were standing in front of the British Parliament.

“Great to meet @raghav_chadha in Parliament… I look forward to a discussion around global health security and antimicrobial resistance,” she had posted.

Gill has previously advocated for Khalistani groups in London, France and Germany and is a staunch critic of the Indian government and its policies. She is also accused of mobilizing support for Khalistani separatists, including Jagtar Singh Johal, lodged in Indian jails.

Johal is accused of five targeted killings of Hindu leaders, two attempted murders, keeping illegal weapons and funding the terrorist outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).

However, in a post on X on March 21, Chadha said that he didn’t hold any meetings due to his schedule apart from attending the Prime Minister’s Question Session at the House of Commons. But he said some MPs and visitors did approach him for photos as I left Westminster.

“Raghav Chadha is an Indian parliamentarian. Meeting someone like Preet Kaur Gill without political clearance is serious. This kind of meeting should have been in the knowledge of the Government of India or he should have asked for political clearance that the Indian government gives regularly to public servants,” an intelligence source told News18.

In February this year, Gill had alleged “transnational repression”, accusing “agents with links to India” of targeting members of the Sikh community in the UK during a House of Commons session.

Claiming that several British Sikhs had appeared on a “hit list”, the shadow minister for primary care and public health had asked Security Minister Tom Tugendhat about the steps taken by the British government.

Last year in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that authorities were pursuing “credible allegations” that Indian government agents were involved in the June 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and a designated terrorist, on Canadian soil.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) strongly rejected the allegation as “absurd and motivated” and the issue triggered a major diplomatic row between India and Canada.

In November last year, US authorities in New York charged an Indian man allegedly linked to a government official of conspiring to murder US-Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, also a designated terrorist in India.

The MEA said at the time that the issue was a “matter of concern” and “contrary to government policy.”