‘If Pakistan feels impotent…’: Rajnath Singh’s proposals in war on terror

Federal Defense Minister Rajnath Singh (file photo).

New Delhi:

Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday reiterated assistance to Pakistan to combat terror activities on its soil. In an exclusive interview with news agency ANI, he said, “If Pakistan feels powerless, India is ready to cooperate to stop terrorism.” However, he also warned Pakistan that if its purpose is to destabilize India through terrorism, then Pakistan must bear the consequences.

A week ago, he warned Pakistan that India would hunt down any terrorists who tried to escape across the border. “If they run to Pakistan, we will go into Pakistan and kill them,” he said.

The remarks came against the backdrop of a report in the British newspaper The Guardian, which accused Delhi of carrying out targeted killings of terrorists in Pakistan.

The government dismissed the claim, calling it “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”.

Read | ‘False, malicious’: Center slams report of targeted assassinations in Pakistan

In its rebuttal, India’s foreign ministry cited its boss, Jaishankar, who recently claimed that targeted killings on foreign soil “are not the policy of the Indian government”.

EP-158 with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh airs today at 5 pm (IST)

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh narrates the untold story of the 1975 Emergency: “During the Emergency, I was not given parole to attend my mother’s last rites and now they (Congress) call us dictator”

“if… pic.twitter.com/ORSOey6Fav

— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2024

Jaishankar’s comments come against the backdrop of Canadian Justin Trudeau’s claims that Indian government “agents” were involved in the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijar is a Canadian citizen and the leader of the banned Khalistan Tigers force.

The ministry’s denial was cited in the Guardian report, which claimed that the Indian government “has implemented a policy of targeting those it considers to be hostile to India”.

According to the Guardian, there have been 20 such killings since an attack on Indian soldiers in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, in February 2019, killing 40 people.

Mr Singh’s proposal, meanwhile, echoes proposals from 2018 and 2019.

Read | Rajnath Singh: Ready to support Pakistan in combating domestic terrorism

The defense minister also warned Islamabad at the time that “a situation will be created (if it does not act on its own) where terrorist bases will be wiped out from Pakistan and no force will be able to prevent this”.

“If Pakistan feels it does not have the strength to deal with terrorism… it can seek help,” he said. “India has shown that it has the capability to not only launch attacks from its own soil … we can also launch attacks from another country’s soil.”

The defense minister’s comments came a month after the air force carried out a “non-military, pre-emptive” strike on a terrorist base in Balakot, Pakistan, run by the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed group, which has launched an attack on Pulwa responsible for horse attacks.

A few months ago, Mr Singh referred to US counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, saying: “I would like to ask the Prime Minister of Pakistan (then Imran Khan)… if the Taliban can be fought with US help, Pakistan can Seeking help in fighting terrorism from India…”

Input from ANI

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channel. click the link Get all the latest updates from NDTV in your chat.