The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) vehemently rejected accusations of involvement in targeted assassinations in Pakistan, dismissing them as “false and malicious anti-India propaganda.” The denial follows a report by The Guardian, citing Indian and Pakistani intelligence sources, which claimed that India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), orchestrated killings of terrorists in Pakistan.
MEA spokespersons reiterated External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s previous denial that targeted killings in other countries were not part of India’s official policy. The report alleges that since 2020, 20 such targeted assassinations have occurred in Pakistan, purportedly carried out by unknown assailants.
In addition to The Guardian’s report, recent accusations from the US and Canada have further strained diplomatic relations. Both countries implicated India in the failed assassination attempt of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, designated as a Khalistani terrorist, in New York, and the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey last year.
Indian intelligence officers, however, defended RAW’s actions, attributing the shift in strategy to the 2019 Pulwama attack, which claimed the lives of 40 Indian paramilitary personnel. Following the attack, Indian intelligence reportedly intensified efforts to preemptively neutralize threats emanating from terrorist safe havens in Pakistan.
The timing of The Guardian’s report coincides with the mysterious deaths of several Pakistani terrorists featured on India’s most-wanted list. Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman, associated with the United Jihad Council (UJC), was found dead under unclear circumstances in Pakistan on March 2. Similarly, Habibullah, linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in December 2023.
Despite India’s call for Pakistan to extradite terrorists for legal proceedings, the Pakistani government has not acknowledged these individuals’ presence or initiated investigations into their deaths. Ajay Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in Delhi, highlighted Pakistan’s reluctance to address these incidents, contributing to the uncertainty surrounding the killings.
India has continuously shed light on how Pakistan has been harboring and supporting terrorist groups responsible for deadly attacks, such as the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the 2008 Mumbai bombings, which claimed hundreds of lives.
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