News Brief
'We’re Not Going To Get In The Middle...': US On Report Claiming India Ordered Targeted Killings Of Terrorists In Pakistan
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller
The United States has said that it was following the media reports accusing Modi government of ordering targeted killings of terrorists living in Pakistan.
India had last week rejected the targeted killing allegations, made in a report in the UK daily The Guardian citing Pakistani evidence, as "false and malicious anti-India propaganda".
Asked about the allegations against India in the media report, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller made it clear that the Biden administration will not interfere in the issue.
"We have been following the media reports about this issue. We don’t have any comment on the underlying allegations, but of course, while we’re not going to get in the middle of this situation, we encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue," he added.
The Guardian report claimed that the Indian intelligence agency R&AW had carried out up to 20 such assassinations since the Pulwama attack of 2019.
According to Pakistani investigators cited in the report, Indian intelligence allegedly paid significant sums to local criminals or individuals in Pakistan to carry out these assassinations, with operations coordinated from the UAE.
These claims also include allegations of targeting Sikh separatists associated with the Khalistan movement, both within Pakistan and abroad.
According to the report, the rise in killings in Pakistan in 2023 was credited to the "increased activity of these cells, which are accused of paying millions of rupees to local criminals or poor Pakistanis to carry out the assassinations".
Indian agents also allegedly recruited jihadists to carry out the shootings, making them believe they were killing “infidels”, the report claimed.
According to two Indian intelligence officers, R&AW’s shift to focusing on terrorists abroad was triggered by the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, when a suicide bomber targeted a military convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing 40 paramilitary personnel.
Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the attack.
This attack reportedly prompted India to focus on preemptively targeting elements outside the country to prevent future attacks, drawing inspiration from intelligence agencies like Israel's Mossad and Russia's KGB.
In response to these allegations, India's Ministry of External Affairs has vehemently denied any involvement in targeted killings abroad, labeling the accusations as false and malicious anti-India propaganda.
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