The UK daily The Guardian published an article claiming that India was executing terrorists in Pakistan on purpose. The foreign ministry has refuted these claims. The foreign minister, S Jaishankar, was quoted by the ministry as saying that targeted killings in other nations were “not the government of India’s policy” and labelling it “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”.

The Guardian story said that Delhi “has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers hostile to India” and noted the ministry’s denial.

According to the study, which asserts that since the 2019 Pulwama assault, the Indian intelligence agency RAW has been responsible for up to 20 such killings, it is based on information provided by Pakistan and conversations with intelligence officers from both countries.

The Guardian quoted an unidentified Indian official as saying that India took inspiration from the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and writer Jamal Khashoggi as well as the Russian KGB and Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, both of which have been connected to extrajudicial assassinations abroad.

According to the investigation, documentation regarding some of the executions that could not be independently verified had been manufactured by Pakistani authorities. It stated that sleeper cells of Indian intelligence stationed in the United Arab Emirates were responsible for the assassinations, according to claims made by Pakistani officials.

Previous accusations of India’s involvement in killings and similar attempts on foreign land came from the US and Canada.

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, stated in September of last year that there were “credible allegations” linking India to the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, a Canadian national who was sought for terrorism in India, was shot in June outside a Surrey gurdwara. The claim had been dismissed as “absurd” by India.

Subsequently, the United States claimed to have stopped an attempt on the life of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another Khalistani insurgent.

The United States stated that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, and an unidentified Indian government official were behind Pannun’s murder attempt. Pannun is an American-Canadian citizen.

In response to US accusations, India stated it is looking at US input on the “nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists, and others”.

Since such inputs affect our own national security interests as well, India takes them seriously. Relevant departments are already looking into issues in light of US inputs, according to Arindam Bagchi, a former spokesman for the foreign ministry.

Write a Comment Afterwards, India informed the US that a rogue official was implicated in the inquiry, according to Bloomberg. The story quoted anonymous intelligence officials to state that the individual was no longer employed by the agency.