An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a US court to orchestrating a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York, in a case US and Canadian officials have linked to a broader campaign by the Indian government to eliminate dissidents.

Nikhil Gupta, 54, entered his plea in federal court in Manhattan to charges including murder for hire.

He faces up to 40 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29.

India has denied involvement in the plot, the New York Times said in a report.

Prosecutors said Gupta was recruited in May 2023 by Vikash Yadav, whom they described as an Indian government official, to arrange the killing of Pannun, a US citizen and prominent advocate for an independent Sikh state in India’s Punjab region.

Yadav has also been indicted in the United States and remains at large.

According to court documents, Gupta contacted a man he believed could hire a hitman.

That individual was a federal informant who introduced him to an undercover US Drug Enforcement Administration officer posing as a contract killer.

The two discussed logistics and payment, and Gupta allegedly paid $15,000 as part of the plan.

US authorities said the plot unfolded in June 2023, around the time President Joe Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state visit.

Gupta was arrested days later in the Czech Republic and extradited to the United States in 2024.

US officials have said there is no evidence that Modi was aware of the plot.

The case has added to diplomatic tensions between India and Canada following the 2023 killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

Canadian authorities accused India of involvement in that killing.

Speaking after the guilty plea, US Attorney Jay Clayton warned foreign actors against carrying out unlawful acts on American soil, underscoring Washington’s position that such actions will be prosecuted.

Gupta briefly told the court that he had agreed in 2023 “to murder a person in the United States.” His lawyer declined to comment.