The Guardian has lent support to Islamabad’s assertions, accusing the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi of orchestrating killings on Pakistani territory.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary, Syrus Qazi, highlighted in January the existence of “credible evidence” linking Indian agents to the assassination of two Pakistani citizens, marking a continuation of extrajudicial tactics previously condemned by Canada and the United States.
The report specifically accuses India of assassinating individuals in Pakistan, a strategy attributed to the New Delhi administration’s broader policy of eliminating perceived threats abroad. Allegedly, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), under direct command from PM Modi’s office, initiated these extraterritorial assassinations after the 2019 Pulwama attack, which resulted in the death of 44 Indian paramilitary forces in the Pulwama district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Since 2020, Indian operatives are believed to have killed 20 people on Pakistani soil, targeting, among others, Sikh separatists associated with the Khalistan movement. The increase in such incidents in 2023 has been attributed to Indian intelligence’s sleeper cells within Pakistan, with these agents also purportedly enlisting individuals to perform these killings under the guise of fighting “infidels.”
One intelligence operative mentioned that the strategy shifted after the Pulwama incident, focusing on preempting threats from abroad. This approach is said to draw inspiration from the practices of Mossad and the KGB, known for their extrajudicial killings outside their national borders.
Pakistani intelligence officials allege Indian involvement in up to 20 killings since 2020, with a significant uptick observed last year. Despite these claims, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has categorically denied such allegations, dismissing them as “false and malicious anti-India propaganda.”
