Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday, in an interview with TV channel News 18, said India will enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes over the border after trying to carry out terrorist activities in the country.
This comes a day after the British newspaper The Guardian published a report claiming that Indian intelligence agencies had killed about 20 people in Pakistan since 2020 as part of a broader plan to eliminate terrorists residing on foreign soil.
"If any terrorist tries to disturb the country's peace, we will give a befitting reply. If they (terrorists) run back to Pakistan, we will go there and kill them," the Defence Minister told CNN-News18.
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The external affairs minister (EAM), in its response to The Guardian, has denied the claims made by the newspaper, reiterating an earlier statement that they were “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”. The ministry emphasised a previous denial made by external affairs minister S Jaishankar that targeted killings in other countries were “not the government of India’s policy”.
The Defence Minister also said that New Delhi intends to maintain good relations with all its neighbours. "India has never attacked any country or tried to capture their territory. But if anyone threatens India or its peace, they will not be spared," Singh added.
Shortly after Rajnath Singh’s statement, The Guardian published an article titled “India Appears to Confirm Extrajudicial Killings in Pakistan,” stating that 'India's defence minister seemed to confirm that the government carried out extrajudicial killings in neighbouring Pakistan.'
The article added, “India has previously denied all involvement in the assassinations. But after the publication of the Guardian’s report, Rajnath Singh, the Indian defence minister, seemed to confirm that India did target terrorists hiding out in Pakistan.”