TWO recent reports in foreign media outlets have shed more light on India’s shadowy business of targeting dissidents and alleged enemies on foreign soil. The Intercept reported that — based on apparently leaked Intelligence Bureau documents — India, through its RAW spy agency, was running a network in Pakistan specifically to eliminate Khalistani and Kashmiri activists and fighters. The outlet’s scoop comes in the aftermath of the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder; Canadian authorities had said the pro-Khalistan activist’s June killing in Vancouver was linked to Indian intelligence operatives. Lending further credence to The Intercept’s report was a story in Britain’s Financial Times, in which the paper said that the American authorities had thwarted a plan to kill US-based Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The report adds that the Americans had sent a diplomatic warning to India over New Delhi’s apparent link to the plot to harm the Sikh activist. Coming back to The Intercept story, quoting the IB documents, the outlet gave extensive details of RAW’s apparent attempts to neutralise Khalistani activists in Pakistan, as well as the murders of a number of ex-jihadis once active in held Kashmir. It also claimed that Indian agents based in Afghanistan and the UAE were active in these acts of subterfuge.

It appears that India has taken a page or two out of the Israeli playbook, for Tel Aviv, over several decades, has assassinated dozens of Palestinian, Lebanese and Iranian fighters and officials in various foreign locales. Yet while the Israelis might have mastered the dark arts, India seems to have overplayed its hand in several instances, especially by assassinating, or attempting to kill, dissidents in the West. Pakistan has long blamed its eastern neighbour of indulging in destabilising activities, and officials have also sent a related dossier of these activities to the UN. The Kulbhushan Jadhav affair — in which the Indian spy was picked up from Balochistan in 2016 — is perhaps the most well-known case of this kind. Though the Western states pamper India as part of their geopolitical stratagems, it will be difficult for them to tolerate New Delhi’s malign activities on their soil, which are in essence an affront to their sovereignty. These revelations also support Pakistan’s criticism of India’s roguish behaviour. India can literally get away with murder domestically, but it cannot be allowed to create mischief overseas.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2023