ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan has denounced the provocative remarks made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during a recent televised interview.
In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan stands resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its sovereignty against any act of aggression, as demonstrated by its robust response to India's reckless incursion in February 2019, which laid bare India's hollow claims of military superiority.
The spokesperson said India's ruling dispensation habitually resorts to hateful rhetoric to fuel hyper-nationalistic sentiments, unapologetically exploiting such discourse for electoral gains.
Such myopic and irresponsible behaviour not only undermines regional peace but also impedes the prospects of constructive engagement in the long term.
Baloch said Pakistan had always demonstrated its commitment to peace in the region. However, Islamabad's desire for peace should not be misconstrued as weakness. "History attests to Pakistan's firm resolve and ability to protect and defend itself," she said.
The spokesperson recalled that Pakistan had provided irrefutable evidence, elucidating India's campaign of extrajudicial and transnational assassinations on Pakistani soil.
She said India's assertion of its preparedness to extrajudicially execute more civilians, arbitrarily pronounced as "terrorists", inside Pakistan constitutes a clear admission of culpability.
She urged the international community to hold India accountable for its heinous and illegal actions.
Also Read:Indian government ordered 'assassinations in Pakistan', reports UK publication
What Guardian report says
Giving further weight to Islamabad’s allegations of India’s sophisticated and sinister campaign of extraterritorial and extrajudicial killings inside Pakistan, a leading British publication has revealed that the Indian prime minister, who directly controls the Indian spy agency, ordered assassinations on Pakistan’s soil.
Citing both Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives, The Guardian states in the report that the Indian government “assassinated individuals in Pakistan”. Delhi has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers hostile to India, it adds.
The report notes that Indian agents were behind the killings of at least 20 individuals inside Pakistan since 2020.
The report credits Indian intelligence sleeper-cells for the surge in killings in Pakistan in 2023, adding that these deaths were orchestrated by Indian intelligence sleeper-cells. Back in January, Pakistan’s Foreign Office claimed that Islamabad had credible evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of two Pakistani nationals, Shahid Latif and Muhammad Riaz, on Pakistani soil.