ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s prime minister reacted angrily on Monday to media reports of a text exchange between an Indian TV anchor and a former media industry executive who suggests that an Indian air strike in 2019 within Pakistan was designed to increase the chances of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election return.
Imran Khan used Twitter to respond to Indian media reports of an exchange on the WhatsApp messaging service between popular Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta, the former head of a TV rating company.
The alleged exchange of text three days before the air strike indicates that Goswami had prior knowledge of the attack and that it was designed to garner support for Modi in his candidacy for reelection in the pending parliamentary elections.
Goswami, an incendiary anchor who is co-owner and editor-in-chief of Indian Republic TV, is known for supporting Modi and its nationalist policies.
According to the WhatsApp chat transcript, Goswami texted Dasgupta three days before the February 26, 2019 air strike, saying “something big is going to happen” and “In Pakistan, the government is confident in attack in a way that people will be elated “.
Dasgupta told Goswami that the attack on Pakistan would give Modi a “wide majority” in the next general election. Months later, Modi achieved a landslide victory in May 2019, prompting his Hindu nationalist party to win consecutive majorities in parliament.
The transcripts of the alleged text exchange seen by The Associated Press were filed by the Mumbai police as part of a supplementary indictment sheet in a different case related to the manipulation of TV ratings.
Neither Dasgupta nor Goswami were available for comment on Monday. But Goswami’s TV Republic issued a statement alleging that the Pakistani government was conspiring against its station.
The February 2019 air strike in Pakistan came after a suicide bombing in India-controlled Kashmir that month, which killed more than 40 Indian soldiers. India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which took responsibility.
Although Pakistan detained the leaders of Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Modi government launched a night air strike in the Pakistani city of Balakot, saying it had hit a militant camp. Pakistan said Indian warplanes dropped bombs in a forest area, without causing casualties.
Pakistan responded by shooting down an Indian war plane in Kashmir and capturing its pilot, who was later released to ease tensions between neighboring countries.
Khan claimed in a 2019 UN speech that Modi used the air strike “for domestic election gains”.
On Monday, Khan in a series of tweets urged the world community to “stop India from its reckless militaristic agenda before the Modi’s government’s recklessness pushes our region into a conflict it cannot control.”
“The latest disclosures of (a) communication by an Indian journalist, known for his warmonger, reveal the profane nexus between the Modi government and the Indian media that led to a dangerous military adventurism to win an election in total disregard for the consequences of destabilizing the entire region, “he said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan accuse each other of unprovoked attacks along the tense Kashmir border, in violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement. Kashmir is divided between rivals with nuclear weapons, and both claim it in its entirety . They have fought two wars across the region since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
The controversy over the exchange of texts also drew criticism from India’s opposition, which demanded responses from Modi.
The opposition Congressional Party said the exchange of texts between the two raised serious questions about India’s national security. “The government (of the Bharatiya Janata de Modi Party) has betrayed our nation by leaking national security information to an alleged journalist,” the party tweeted on Monday.
Shashi Tharoor, a legislator for the Congress Party, said on Sunday that “leaking military secrets to a commercial TV channel” required a “serious inquiry” by the Modi government. “We all hope not, given the evidence of their complicity in the revealed betrayals,” wrote Tharoor on Twitter.
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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.