India rejected two Washington Post reports, published on Friday, which claim Indian involvement in a failed attempt to impeach Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu. The first said Indian agents of the Research and Analysis Wing attempted to orchestrate Muizzu’s ouster by collaborating with opposition leaders in the Maldives.
According to the report, RAW agents had conspired to bribe 40 Members of Parliament, members from Muizzu’s party among them, with a motive of impeaching the president who is reportedly pro-China. The report, however claimed that the plan did not materialize as the MPs did not muster enough strength for the same.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), strongly rejected the accusations in the report. He accused both the newspaper and the reporter of showing “compulsive hostility” towards India. “You can see a pattern in their activities. I leave you to judge their credibility. As far as we are concerned, they have none,” Jaiswal stated in response to the claims.
#WATCH | Delhi: On articles published by Washington Post on Maldives and Pakistan, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, ” Both the newspaper and reporter in question, appear to nurse a compulsive hostility towards India. You can see a pattern in their activities. I leave you to… pic.twitter.com/PwfiqtpYfK
— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2025
Alleged Assassination Program In Pakistan
The second allegation by The Washington Post said India’s RAW had been operating an assassination program aimed at killing members of the terrorist organizations operating in Pakistan, especially Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. The report claimed that since 2021, the program had killed at least six people connected with these terror outfits designated as UN-proscribed terror groups.
MEA Response To Accusations Of Targeted Killing
In response to these serious accusations, Jaiswal referred to a 2011 statement by then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had criticized Pakistan for harboring terrorist groups and allowing them to operate in the region. Clinton had said, “You cannot keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors.” Jaiswal underlined that India’s stance was consistent with Clinton’s words, as Pakistan was found harbouring militant groups that carry out cross-border attacks.
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