India appears to confirm extrajudicial killings in Pakistan
Source: The Guardian
India appears to confirm extrajudicial killings in Pakistan
Defence minister’s comments after Guardian report are first time India has acknowledged any assassinations on foreign soil
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
Fri 5 Apr 2024 16.40 BST
Last modified on Sat 6 Apr 2024 06.19 BST
India’s defence minister has appeared to confirm that the government carried out extrajudicial killings in neighbouring Pakistan, after a Guardian report on the alleged assassinations.
Intelligence officials from India and Pakistan who spoke to the Guardian had alleged that India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), had been involved in up to 20 killings of individuals in Pakistan since 2020, as part of a wider policy to target terrorists living on foreign soil.
Most of those targeted in Pakistan were convicted terrorists and militants known to be associated with Islamist militant groups that had carried out deadly attacks in India.
India has previously denied all involvement in the assassinations. But after the publication of the Guardian’s report, Rajnath Singh, the Indian defence minister, seemed to confirm that India did target terrorists hiding out in Pakistan.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/05/india-appears-to-confirm-extrajudicial-killings-in-pakistan
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Source: The Guardian
Indian government ordered killings in Pakistan, intelligence officials claim
Allegations of up to 20 assassinations since 2020 follow Canada’s accusation of Delhi role in murders of dissidents
Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Aakash Hassan and Shah Meer Baloch
Thu 4 Apr 2024 14.02 BST
Last modified on Fri 5 Apr 2024 12.02 BST
The Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, according to Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives who spoke to the Guardian.
Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed new light on how India’s foreign intelligence agency allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019. The agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (Raw), is directly controlled by the office of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, who is running for a third term in office in elections later this month.
The accounts appear to give further weight to allegations that Delhi has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers hostile to India. While the new allegations refer to individuals charged with serious and violent terror offences, India has also been accused publicly by Washington and Ottawa of involvement in the murders of dissident figures including a Sikh activist in Canada and of a botched assassination attempt on another Sikh in the US last year.
The fresh claims relate to almost 20 killings since 2020, carried out by unknown gunmen in Pakistan. While India has previously been unofficially linked to the deaths, this is the first time Indian intelligence personnel have discussed the alleged operations in Pakistan, and detailed documentation has been seen alleging Raw’s direct involvement in the assassinations.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/04/indian-government-assassination-allegations-pakistan-intelligence-officials