Rajnath Singh’s remark on killings proves India’s culpability: Pakistan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6

Pakistan on Saturday said Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement showed India’s “culpability of carrying out extrajudicial killings inside Pakistan”.

Rajnath, in a television interview, had said yesterday that India would enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escaped after carrying out terror strikes in the country.

The comments came after Britain’s ‘The Guardian’ newspaper published a report alleging that the Indian Government had killed 20 persons inside Pakistan after 2020 as part of a broader plan to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil. “If they run away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them…. India always wants to maintain good relations with its neighbouring countries. But if anyone tries to rub us the wrong way again and again, we will not spare them,” Rajnath said.

Islamabad said it denounced the “provocative remarks” made by the Indian Defence Minister. The Pakistan Foreign Office said that “on January 25, it had provided irrefutable evidence, elucidating India’s campaign of extrajudicial and transnational assassinations on Pakistani soil”.

“Rajnath’s statement is a clear admission of culpability. We stand resolute in our intent and ability to safeguard our sovereignty against any act of aggression, as demonstrated by our robust response to India’s incursion in February 2019,” said Pakistan.

Pakistan also accused India’s ruling dispensation of “habitually resorting to hateful rhetoric to fuel hyper-nationalistic sentiments, unapologetically exploiting such discourse for electoral gains”. It alleged that such behaviour not only undermined regional peace, but also impeded the prospects of constructive engagement in the long term. “Our desire for peace should not be misconstrued. History attests to Pakistan’s firm resolve and ability to protect and defend itself,” the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

What minister said

Asked about a report tying a spate of mysterious killings in Pakistan to Indian agencies, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said, “If any terrorist tries to disturb peace in India, he will not be spared. Even If he runs away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill him.”

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