The diplomatic row between Canada and India, which began last year over the alleged killing of a Sikh leader by Indian agents, has intensified, with both countries expelling six diplomats, including the ambassadors, two days ago. Canadian police claimed they had evidence linking agents of the Indian government to serious criminal activity. Referring to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly asserted that there were credible allegations connecting Indian intelligence services to the crime. Nijjar was a staunch advocate for the creation of a Sikh state, Khalistan, carved out of India.
It is worth noting that the United States had also accused India of a similar, albeit unsuccessful, assassination plot on US soil, though it handled the matter more quietly. In response to the mutual expulsion of diplomats by India and Canada, the US has called on India to take the Canadian allegations seriously, reiterating the need for India to cooperate with Canada in investigations—a step India has so far resisted, choosing an alternative path instead. The US response has been notably mild for what amounts to state terrorism by India, deserving the same level of condemnation the US has issued in similar cases involving other countries. This double standard has, in effect, emboldened India to continue such acts of state terrorism with impunity. Pakistan has also experienced similar assassinations by Indian agents. On January 24, 2024, former Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi revealed in a media briefing that India had been involved in extra-territorial and extra-judicial killings within Pakistan, providing credible evidence of Indian agents’ links to the assassinations of two Pakistanis. He explained that these were killings-for-hire, involving a sophisticated international network spanning multiple jurisdictions. Indian agents used technology and foreign safe havens to carry out these assassinations, recruiting, financing, and supporting criminals, terrorists, and unsuspecting civilians to play specific roles in these murders.
Qazi’s claims were corroborated by a report in *The Guardian*, which stated that the Indian government had been responsible for around 20 killings in Pakistan since 2020. The newspaper based its report on interviews with Indian intelligence officials and documents shared by Pakistan, which indicated the involvement of Indian intelligence agency RAW in these attacks. India has also been involved in sponsoring terrorist activities within Pakistan, as confirmed by the capture of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving officer in the Indian Navy, on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a military court after revealing his role in supporting the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) in terrorist activities in the province. These terrorist groups have been responsible for attacks on security forces and Chinese workers involved in CPEC projects in the region. India has also been implicated in supporting Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in its attacks on Pakistan. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan compiled a dossier on India’s involvement in terrorism and presented it to key global capitals and the UN, yet there has been little serious concern expressed by the international community.
In June this year, Pakistani intelligence agencies arrested two high-ranking commanders of the TTP, including Maulvi Mansoor, in Balochistan. In his confessional statement, Mansoor revealed that Indian RAW was supporting both the TTP and BLA. He disclosed that he was responsible for the military, financial, and administrative operations of the banned group. RAW has pushed for collaboration between the TTP and BLA, aiming to establish bases in Balochistan to target Chinese citizens and sabotage CPEC projects, as well as to carry out kidnappings for ransom to discredit Pakistan’s intelligence agencies. Many missing persons, Mansoor claimed, were active in Afghanistan, with full backing from the Afghan government. Mansoor’s revelations underscore the nexus between these terrorist groups, RAW, and the Afghan government, and shed light on how enemies of Pakistan have exploited the issue of missing persons to discredit the country.
It is deeply regrettable that India has not only expanded its state terrorism beyond its borders but that the Modi government is employing similar tactics against its own minorities, particularly the Muslim community. The communal policies of the BJP have turned India into a majoritarian state, where lynchings of Muslims by Hindu extremists are common. Yet, we hear only muted responses from the international community, particularly from nations like the US, which loudly profess their commitment to human rights. For them, global politics, geo-strategic interests, and commercial considerations take precedence over humanitarian issues.
The decision by the BJP government to revoke the special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) by repealing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and declaring it Indian territory was an affront to the conscience of the international community and the UN, which had passed resolutions calling for a plebiscite to determine the state’s accession. India has turned IIOJ&K into an open-air prison, with hundreds of Kashmiris losing their lives in search and cordon operations by Indian security forces. No country has openly condemned these actions or the human rights violations committed by Indian forces. Even the UN Security Council limited itself to reiterating that the solution to the dispute should be in accordance with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and relevant resolutions.
Those who proclaim their humanitarian values from every convenient platform, particularly the US and its allies, need to re-examine their conscience and question their duplicity on such critical matters.
Malik Muhammad Ashraf
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com