The Indian government is alleged to have carried out assassinations in Pakistan as part of a broader strategy to eliminate terrorists living abroad, as per intelligence operatives from both India and Pakistan who spoke to international media.
Interviews with intelligence officials from both countries, along with shared documents from Pakistani investigators, shed light on how India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), allegedly began conducting assassinations abroad after 2019. These actions are said to be directly controlled by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
These allegations lend weight to claims that India targets individuals it considers hostile. While these actions mainly target individuals charged with serious terror offenses, India has also been accused by Washington and Ottawa of involvement in the deaths of dissident figures, including a Sikh activist in Canada, and a failed assassination attempt on another Sikh in the US.
The alleged assassinations in Pakistan since 2020 are said to be orchestrated by Indian intelligence sleeper cells, mainly operating from the United Arab Emirates. These cells allegedly pay locals to carry out the killings and recruit jihadists to perpetrate the attacks.
According to Indian intelligence officers, the shift towards targeting dissidents abroad was prompted by the Pulwama attack in 2019. They claim that after this incident, India decided to target elements outside the country before they could launch attacks or cause disturbances.
Indian intelligence officers cited examples from intelligence agencies like Israel’s Mossad and Russia’s KGB as inspiration for these actions, with references to the Jamal Khashoggi case as well.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs denied all allegations, emphasizing that such actions are not part of India’s government policy.
The alleged shift in India’s strategy to conduct extrajudicial killings abroad aligns with Prime Minister Modi’s more aggressive foreign policy approach. However, former RAW officials denied involvement in extrajudicial killings, suggesting Pakistan could be responsible.
These allegations could pose challenges for Western countries with close ties to India, including intelligence-sharing agreements, as they could raise questions about India’s human rights record.
