In a significant escalation of diplomatic tensions, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi
blamed
India for the murder of two civilians on Pakistani soil, claiming to have “credible evidence” directly implicating Indian agents.
The top diplomat detailed these allegations during a
press briefing,
wherein he identified the victims as Shahid Latif and Muhammad Riaz, who were assassinated in 2023. Qazi asserted that these murders exemplify a pattern of “killing-for-hire cases” that he links to India’s “sophisticated international set-up spread across various jurisdictions.”
“We have documentary, financial and forensic evidence of the involvement of two Indian agents who masterminded these assassinations… India must be held accountable internationally for its violation of international law. India’s assassination of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil is a breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty and a violation of the
UN charter.”
Such accusations are not new for India. In the past, India has been implicated in similar accusations of extrajudicial killings on foreign soil. In 2023, then-Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau
accused
India of orchestrating the assassination of a Canadian national on Canadian soil. India reacted strongly by demanding the homecoming of their diplomats and threatening to revoke their diplomatic immunity.
Around the same time period, US officials
accused
India of allegedly attempting to recruit an Indian agent to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader on US soil. These related incidents underline an emerging pattern of concerns around extraterritorial killings linked to India, warranting careful international attention and scrutiny.
Follow more updates on this matter from the original report at
Jurist.