Pakistan wants international response to Indian network of extraterritorial killings

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Foreign Office stated on Friday that the Indian network of extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings has now become a global concern that requires a coordinated international response.

The FO statement follows a report published by The Guardian on Thursday which states that the Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan.

India has denied the claims made in the report.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said that Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi, on January 25, shared credible evidence of the involvement of Indian agents in the killings of two Pakistani citizens on Pakistani soil.

“These cases exposed the increasing sophistication and brazenness of Indian-sponsored terrorist acts inside Pakistan, with striking similarities to the pattern observed in other countries, including Canada and the United States,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

India’s assassination of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil constitutes a clear violation of the country’s sovereignty and a breach of the UN Charter, the spokesperson said.

“It is critical to bring to justice the perpetrators, facilitators, financiers and sponsors of these extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings. India must be held accountable internationally for its blatant violation of international law,” the spokesperson concluded.

The report by leading British publication revealed that the Indian prime minister, who directly controls the Indian spy agency, ordered assassinations on Pakistan’s soil.

Citing both Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives, The Guardian states in the report that the Indian government “assassinated individuals in Pakistan”. Delhi has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers hostile to India, it adds.

The report notes that Indian agents were behind the killings of at least 20 individuals inside Pakistan since 2020.

The report credits Indian intelligence sleeper-cells for the surge in killings in Pakistan in 2023, adding that these deaths were orchestrated by Indian intelligence sleeper-cells.

According to the report, India’s spy agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security following the Pulwama attack in 2019 which saw 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers killed.

“After the Pulwama attack, the approach changed to target the elements outside the country before they are able to launch an attack or create any disturbance,” the report states, citing an Indian intelligence operative.

The operative tells The Guardian that India had drawn inspiration from Israel’s Mossad and Russia’s KGB, the two spy agencies which have been linked to extrajudicial killings on foreign soil.

“We suspect New Delhi’s involvement in up to 20 killings since 2020 on our soil,” the report adds, quoting operatives from two Pakistani intelligence agencies.