Arnab knew of Balakot strike; exposes 'dirty nexus:' Pak PM Imran Khan

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan reacted angrily on Monday to media reports of a text exchange between an Indian TV anchor and a former media industry executive that suggests a 2019 Indian airstrike inside Pakistan was designed to boost Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chances for re-election.

Also Read: All the world’s a stage for Arnab Goswami

Khan took to 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.

“Indian sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan, its abuses in IIOJK & a 15-year Indian global disinformation campaign against us all stand exposed. Now India’s own media has revealed the dirty nexus that is pushing our nuclearised region to the brink of a conflict it cannot afford,” he tweeted.

The purported text exchange three days before the airstrike indicates Goswami had prior knowledge of the attack and that it was designed to drum up support for Modi in his re-election bid in pending parliamentary elections.

Goswami, a firebrand anchor who also the co-owner and editor in chief of Republic TV, is known for supporting Modi and his nationalist policies.

Also read: Britons sign petition to ban Republic TV in UK for ‘bigoted’ coverage

According to the WhatsApp chat transcript, Goswami texted Dasgupta three days before the February 26, 2019 airstrike, saying something big will happen.

Dasgupta tells Goswami the attack on Pakistan would give Modi a “sweeping majority” in the upcoming general election. Months later, Modi surged to a landslide victory in May 2019, propelling the BJP to back-to-back majorities in parliament.

Transcripts of the purported text exchange seen by The Associated Press were filed by Mumbai police as part of a supplementary charge-sheet in a different case relating to manipulation of TV ratings.

Neither Dasgupta nor Goswami was available for comment Monday. But Goswami’s Republic TV issued a statement alleging the Pakistani government was conspiring against his station.

The February 2019 airstrike on Pakistan followed a suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir that month that killed more than 40 Indian soldiers. India blamed Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility.

Also read: Arnab moves SC in 2018 suicide case; Republic TV exec held in TRP scam

Although Pakistan detained Jaish-e-Mohammed leaders, India launched a nighttime airstrike on the Pakistani town of Balakot, saying it hit a militant camp. Pakistan said Indian warplanes dropped bombs in a forested area, causing no casualties. Pakistan responded by shooting down an Indian warplane in Kashmir and capturing its pilot, who was later released to ease tensions between the neighbouring countries.

Khan alleged in a speech at the U.N. in 2019 that Modi used the airstrike for domestic electoral gains. On Monday, Khan in a series of tweets urged the world community to “stop India from its reckless, militarist agenda before the Modi government’s brinkmanship pushes our region into a conflict it cannot control.”

In 2019, I spoke at UNGA on how India’s fascist Modi govt used the Balakot crisis for domestic electoral gains. Latest revelations from communication of an Indian journalist, known for his warmongering, reveal the unholy nexus between the Modi govt & Indian media

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 18, 2021

“The latest revelations from (a) communication of an Indian journalist, known for his warmongering, reveal the unholy nexus between the Modi govt & Indian media that led to a dangerous military adventurism to win an election in utter disregard for the consequences of destabilizing the entire region,” he said.

Pakistan and India have routinely accused each other of unprovoked attacks along the tense Kashmir frontier in violation of a 2003 cease-fire agreement. Kashmir is split between the nuclear-armed rivals, and both claim it in its entirety. They have fought two wars over the region since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

The text exchange controversy also drew criticism from India’s opposition, which demanded answers from Modi.

The opposition Congress Party said the text exchange between the two men raised serious questions about India’s national security. “The government betrayed our nation by leaking national security information to a so-called journalist,” the party tweeted Monday.

Shashi Tharoor, a Congress Party lawmaker, said on Sunday that the leaking of military secrets to a TV channel for its commercial purposes required a serious inquiry by the Modi government. “We all expect it wont, given the evidence of its complicity in the betrayals revealed,” Tharoor wrote on Twitter.