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Islamabad on Saturday denounced the “provocative” remarks made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a televised interview yesterday, in which he appeared to confirm that New Delhi was carrying out an assassination campaign in Pakistan, as reported by The Guardian.
“If any terrorist from a neighbouring country tries to disturb India or carry out terrorist activities here, he will be given a fitting reply. If he escapes to Pakistan we will go to Pakistan and kill him there,” Singh said in an interview to Indian TV news network News18 on Friday.
Singh’s remarks followed The Guardian’s report, which said at least 20 individuals had been murdered in Pakistan since 2020 at the behest of Indian intelligence operatives. The report said it had seen evidence provided by Pakistani security agencies, and noted that Indian officers confirmed the new policy of assassinating enemies and dissidents on foreign soil.
Singh said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear this policy was “right” and that “India has the capability to do so. Pakistan has also started understanding this.”
Singh’s comments are the first time that India has acknowledged any assassinations by its operatives on foreign soil, The Guardian reported in a follow-up story.
In the Foreign Office statement issued today, Pakistan has officially condemned what it describes as “provocative remarks” made by the Indian defence minister.
The Foreign Office detailed that on January 25, Pakistan had provided “irrefutable evidence” of India’s involvement in extrajudicial killings and transnational assassinations on Pakistani soil.
“India’s assertion of its preparedness to extra-judiciously execute more civilians, arbitrarily pronounced as ‘terrorists’, inside Pakistan constitutes a clear admission of culpability,” the FO said.
“It is imperative for the international community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions.”
More to follow
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