Indian officials have rejected a media report claiming that the government of India orchestrated various killings in Pakistan.
According to officials familiar with the matter speaking to CNN-News18, the article published by The Guardian is deemed “false and fabricated”. They instead accused Pakistan’s spy agency of carrying out these killings.
The report quoting officials said that India’s stance on eliminating terrorists pertains solely to addressing threats along the border region that challenge India’s sovereignty. They refuted claims of organising killings in Pakistan and dismissed allegations linking Indian agents to the reported assassinations.
The Guardian’s report, based on unnamed intelligence sources, cited nearly 20 killings in Pakistan since 2020 attributed to unknown gunmen, with a notable increase in 2023. The report suggested that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) established sleeper cells in the UAE to orchestrate these killings remotely. It alleged that Indian officials provided funds to local Pakistanis and militants to carry out the assassinations under the guise of combating “infidels.”
In response, Indian defense experts like Sanjay Kulkarni asserted that the Indian government does not operate in such ways and dismissed the allegations as baseless, attributing the killings to local gang conflicts.
Furthermore, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs refuted the allegations as “false and malicious anti-India propaganda,” emphasising that targeted killings in other countries are not part of India’s policy.
The report mentioned several high-profile individuals allegedly killed in Pakistan, including leaders of militant groups like the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). However, Indian officials countered these claims, asserting that these killings were orchestrated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during IMF-imposed restrictions to combat terrorism.
