Rajnath Singh Gives A Stern Affirmation On Cross-Border Terrorism: “We Will Give Them ‘Muh Tod Jawab'”

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday, April 5 stated that the government will not spare terrorists who attempt to disrupt the country’s peace. He affirmed that even if they flee back to Pakistan, the terrorists would be hunted down and eliminated. Singh was responding to a Guardian report that blamed India for carrying out targeted assassinations in Pakistan.

Rajnath Singh said, “If any terrorist tries to disturb the peace in Bharat, or tries to carry out terror activities in Bharat, we will give them ‘muh tod jawab’. If they run to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan and kill them.” The Defence Minister added, “What the Prime Minister has said is completely accurate. India is that powerful and Pakistan is also starting to realize that.”

Rajnath Singh also said that New Delhi intends to maintain good relations with all its neighbors, and that India has never attacked any country. “India has never attacked any country or tried to capture their territory. But if anyone threatens India or its peace, they will not be spared,” Rajnath Singh affirmed. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs responded to The Guardian over its report, calling the allegations “false and malicious anti-India propaganda”.

The government also highlighted a previous statement by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in which he said that targeted killings in other countries were “not the policy of the government of India”. According to The Guardian report, documents shared by some Pakistani investigators indicated India’s intelligence agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) allegedly carried out 20 such targeted assassinations on foreign soil as part of a more aggressive approach to national security after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 40 Indian soldiers.