Indian state terrorism

The bombshell revelation that the Pakistan has “credible evidence” of Indian involvement in the assassinations of two men in Pakistan must be followed up on with international authorities and other countries where Indian intelligence assets have been illegally operating murder campaigns, including the US and Canada.

While India denied any links to the killings after the Foreign Secretary’s presser, it is worth noting that both men were affiliated with Jamaatud Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba, automatically placing them on every conceivable Indian hit list. Although the Lashkar is designated as a terrorist group by Pakistan as well, the two men were not known to be facing any legal threats when they were killed. However, despite India’s recent denials, at the time of the killings, Indian media had been reporting on the incidents with glee, and only thinly veiling who they believed to be responsible. Given that it was almost certainly Indian authorities that fed them the story, those news reports should be seen as corroborating Pakistan’s position.

Indian intelligence’s recent record of murders abroad has been both brazen and incompetent — each incident was immediately suspicious, and each country has said it has extensive evidence of Indian involvement. However, New Delhi only regards itself as the lesser partner in one instance. This is why the response to Canadian and Pakistani accusations was denial and bluster, while the American accusations regarding the attempted murder of a Sikh separatist got a dignified and apologetic response, with a promise to punish all involved.

Unfortunately, the information made public by the Foreign Secretary, and details from the US federal court case against the assassination plotters, suggest the Indian state’s murder machine is extremely widespread, operating out of dozens of countries, which would normally be thought to avoid detection if not for the incompetence of the Indian agents — as illustrated in the US indictment. India’s utility to the West as a counterbalance to China remains undisputed, but its recent backstabbing may well force US and others to cut their losses and step back.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2024.

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