E-Paper
Rajnath Singh's warning to Pakistan over terrorism. Then an offer: ‘If it feels incapable…’
Rajnath Singh's remarks come days after Pakistan's foreign ministry issued a statement denouncing his comments on killing terrorists on its soil.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has offered India's assistance to Pakistan in combating terrorism on its soil.
In an interview with news agency ANI, Rajnath Singh warned Islamabad of consequences if it tries to destabilise India using terrorism and said, “Pakistan should stop the terrorism and if it feels incapable, India is ready to cooperate to stop terrorism.”
Singh's remarks come days after he made it clear that India would enter Pakistan if terrorists ran away to the neighbouring nation after carrying out terror strikes in the country.
"If they run away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them," Singh told CNN News18.
"India always wants to maintain good relations with its neighbouring countries ... But if anyone shows India the angry eyes again and again, comes to India and tries to promote terrorist activities, we will not spare them," Singh said.
Read: Rajnath Singh jumps on viral ‘moye moye’ trend to mock opposition
He was responding to a question on a report by The Guardian which claimed India has been orchestrating targeted assassinations in Pakistan as part of a broader strategy to eliminate.
The report claimed that India's Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) began carrying out assassinations abroad, including in Pakistan, with a focus on individuals involved in serious and violent terrorist activities.
The report came months after Canada and the United States accused India of killing or attempting to kill people in those countries.
The ministry of external affairs, however, denied the claims and quoted S Jaishankar's earlier statement asserting that targeted killings in other countries were “not the government of India’s policy”.
Read: Rajnath Singh attacks China over Arunachal row: ‘If India changes names…’
Relations between India and Pakistan have worsened since the 2019 Pulwama attack which was traced to Pakistan-based terrorists and prompted New Delhi to carry out an airstrike on what it said was a militant base in Balakot.
Since then, several terrorists have been killed in Pakistan under mysterious circumstances. The slain terrorists include Azam Cheema, a top intelligence official of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT); Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman; Paramjit Singh Panjwar of Khalistan Commando Force; and Jaish-e-Mohammed operative Shahid Latif, the mastermind behind Pathankot airbase attack.
