The Indian government has been accused of allegedly assassinating individuals in Pakistan, as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, a UK paper The Guardian reported citing Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives. It is to be noted that Sikh separatists associated with the Khalistan movement were also targeted as part of these operations carried out in Pakistan and the West, the report stated.
It added that the as per information received after interviewing intelligence officials in both countries, India and Pakistan, and the documents shared by Pakistani investigators, India's foreign intelligence agency allegedly began carrying out assassinations abroad, in a move to achieve national security post-2019.
The report also mentioned India's Research & Analysis Wing (Raw) and added that it is directly controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is running for a third term in office in the upcoming general elections slated to begin on April 19.
The Guardian report also alleged that as per the inputs received by it, Delhi has implemented a policy of targeting people whom it considers hostile to India.
Previously, India has also been accused publicly by Ottawa and Washington of being involved in the murders of Sikh activists in Canada. Apart from this, it has also been accused of its involvement in the failed assassination attempt of another Sikh in the United States last year. The new allegations against India meanwhile are in relation to individuals who have been charged with violent and serious terror offences, the report noted.
The fresh claims relate to around 20 killings by unknown gunmen in Pakistan since 2020. The detailed documentation provided by Indian intelligence personnel on the alleged operations in Pakistan for the first time suggest Raw's direct involvement in the assassinations.
The rise in killings in 2023 was attributed to the increased activity of Indian intelligence sleeper cells, operating out of the United Arab Emirates. These sleeper cells, according to Pakistani investigators, orchestrated the assassinations, paying millions of rupees to poor Pakistanis and local criminals to carry out the killings, the report stated. The Indian agents have also been accused of recruiting jihadists to carry out the shootings by making them believe that they were killing “infidels”.
Mentioning the 2019 Pulwama attack, which killed 40 paramilitary personnel, two of the Indian intelligence officers told the Guardian that the spy agency's focus was shifted to the dissidents abroad following this terror attack. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility.
“After Pulwama, the approach changed to target the elements outside the country before they are able to launch an attack or create any disturbance,” The Guardian quoted an Indian intelligence operative as saying.
“We could not stop the attacks because ultimately their safe havens were in Pakistan, so we had to get to the source,” the operative added. In order to conduct such operations “needed approval from the highest level of government”, he added.