India will invade Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes after a terror attack, Rajnath Singh said
New Delhi:
India will enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes across the border after attempting to carry out terrorist activities in the country, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said. CNN News 18 on Friday.
Singh’s comments come a day after British newspaper The Guardian published a report claiming that the Indian government has killed 20 people in Pakistan since 2020 as part of a broader plan to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil.
The Foreign Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report, while Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
“If they flee to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them,” Singh told the channel in response to a question about the report.
“India always wants to maintain good relations with its neighbors… But if anyone shows the evil eye to India again and again, comes to India and tries to promote terrorist activities, we will not spare them,” Mr Singh said.
Relations between the countries have deteriorated since a 2019 suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir was traced to Pakistan-based terrorists, prompting India to carry out an airstrike on a terrorist base in Pakistan.
Pakistan said earlier this year that it has credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of two of its citizens on its soil.
India called it ‘false and malicious’ propaganda.
The Guardian report comes months after Canada and the US accused India of killing or attempting to kill Khalistani terrorists in those countries.
Canada said in September it was pursuing “credible allegations” linking India to the death of a Sikh separatist leader who was shot dead in June — claims that India said were “absurd and motivated.”
A top Canadian official said in January that India was cooperating in the matter and that bilateral ties were improving.
The US also said in November that it had foiled an Indian plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader and announced charges against an individual it said had worked with India to orchestrate the attempted assassination.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India will investigate any information it receives in this regard.