The “global phenomenon” of extraterritorial assassinations by the Indian network requires a concerted response

The Indian network of extrajudicial and extraterritorial executions, according to the Foreign Office (FO) on Friday, has evolved into a “global phenomenon” necessitating a concerted international response.

The statement was released in response to The Guardian’s investigation, which was released on Thursday, which claimed that the Indian government had killed people in Pakistan as part of a larger plan to eradicate terrorists who were residing abroad.

The report stated that it “shed new light on how India’s foreign intelligence agency allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019” and cited intelligence officials from both nations as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators.

The allegations in the report have been refuted by India.

The FO stated in a statement that India’s killing of Pakistani citizens on Pakistani territory constituted a flagrant transgression of both the UN Charter and the nation’s sovereignty.

It also featured a news conference held in January by Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi, during which he stated that there was “credible evidence” linking Indian operatives to the murders of two Pakistani citizens in Sialkot and Rawalakot.

“With striking similarities to the pattern witnessed in other countries, notably Canada and the United States, these events showed the rising complexity and brazenness of Indian-sponsored terrorist actions inside Pakistan,” the FO added.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has mentioned what he claimed to be solid proof of a possible connection between the killing of a Sikh separatist leader and Indian spies in October 2023.

The US Department of Justice claimed the following month that an Indian government officer was in charge of a botched attempt to kill a Sikh separatist within US territory.

“It is imperative that those responsible for these extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings—as well as those who assist, finance, and promote them—be brought to account. The FO stated that India has to face international consequences for its flagrant disregard for international law.

According to a report, Indians may have killed up to 20 people in Pakistan.

The reports seem to “give further weight to allegations that Delhi has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers hostile to India,” according to the Guardian investigation. It mentioned that Canada and Washington have openly accused India of being involved in the killings of activists who are dissidents.

“The new allegations concern around 20 murders committed in Pakistan by unknown shooters since 2020. Although India has been informally connected to the fatalities in the past, this is the first time that Indian intelligence officials have spoken about the purported operations in Pakistan, and extensive evidence has claimed that the Research Analysis Wing (RAW) was directly involved in the assassinations, the statement stated.

It went on to say that there were allegations that Sikh separatists involved in the Khalistan movement were singled out for attack as part of India’s foreign operations in Pakistan and the West.

According to the report, which quoted Pakistani investigators, sleeper cells from Indian intelligence were responsible for these deaths, with the majority of them coming from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It cited two Indian intelligence operatives as stating that the 2019 Pulwama assault, which killed several security personnel in occupied Kashmir in February 2019 and which India blamed on Pakistan, was the catalyst for RAW’s change to “focusing on dissidents abroad.”

“After Pulwama, the strategy shifted to focus on foreign entities before they could mount an assault or cause any disruption. We had to reach the source since we were eventually unable to halt the assaults because their safe havens were in Pakistan, an Indian intelligence officer was cited in The Guardian as saying.

He stated that clearance from the highest level of government was required for such activities, and that India “drew inspiration” from intelligence services like the Russian KGB and Israel’s Mossad.

According to the article, Islamabad accused India of being involved in as many as 20 deaths since 2020. This information was provided by unidentified senior officials from two different intelligence organizations in Pakistan.

According to the report, the officials produced documents from previously undisclosed investigations into seven of the cases, including witness statements, arrest logs, bank statements, WhatsApp messages, and passports. These documents, according to the investigators, provided a detailed picture of the operations carried out by Indian spies to kill targets within Pakistan. Although The Guardian claimed to have viewed the papers, an independent verification was not possible.

According to intelligence sources, there was a notable surge in targeted killings in 2023. India was implicated in the purported murders of about 15 individuals, the most of whom were shot at close range by unidentified shooters.

Investigators said that millions of rupees would frequently be given to wealthy residents or criminals to carry out the killings; according to papers, most of these payments were sent through Dubai. According to the report, meetings with RAW handlers supervising the executions allegedly occurred in Nepal, Mauritius, and the Maldives.

The practice of Indian operatives planning murders in Pakistan is not a recent development. We calculate that they have been working for almost two years to set up these sleeper cells in the UAE, where they are mostly in charge of organizing the killings. We started seeing a lot more deaths after that,” a Pakistani officer was cited as saying.

According to The Guardian, the numbers provided corresponded with those gathered by experts monitoring unreported terrorist deaths in Pakistan.

India, meanwhile, vigorously refuted The Guardian allegation. The charges were refuted by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, which reiterated a previous declaration calling them “false and malicious anti-India propaganda.”

Targeted assassinations abroad are “not the government of India’s policy,” as Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had previously denied. This rejection was emphasized by the ministry.