NEW DELHI: The murder-for-hire trial of Indian national Nikhil “Nick” Gupta, accused by U.S. prosecutors of plotting assassination of Khalistani operative Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on behalf of Indian intelligence, has been delayed in New York.

The case, already politically charged, is expected to bring back into focus the controversy surrounding the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

As reported by this newspaper earlier, Gupta, who has been described by American authorities as a “narcotics and arms trafficker,” was to face trial this week for allegedly conspiring with officials of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), to eliminate Pannun, a U.S.-Canadian citizen declared a terrorist by the Government of India.

The tria

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