India will enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes over the border after trying to carry out terrorist activities in the country, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told CNN News18 on Friday.

Mr Singh’s comments come a day after Britain’s Guardian newspaper published a report alleging the Indian government killed 20 people in Pakistan since 2020 as part of a broader plan to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil.

The foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters’ request for comment on the report, while Pakistan’s foreign ministry refused to comment.

“If they run away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them,” Mr Singh told the channel in response to a question about the report.

“India always wants to maintain good relations with its neighbouring countries… But if anyone shows India the angry eyes again and again, comes to India and tries to promote terrorist activities, we will not spare them,” Mr Singh said.

Relations between the countries have worsened since a 2019 suicide bombing of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama was traced to Pakistan-based terrorists, leading India to carry out an airstrike on a terrorist base in Pakistan.

Pakistan said earlier this year it had credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of two of its citizens on its soil.

India said it was “false and malicious” propaganda.

The report in the Guardian comes months after Canada and the US accused India of killing or attempting to kill Khalistani terrorists in those countries.

Canada said in September that it was pursuing “credible allegations” linking India to the death of a Sikh separatist leader shot dead in June – claims that India said were “absurd and motivated”.

A top Canadian official said in January that India was cooperating in the matter and bilateral ties were improving.

The US similarly said in November that it had thwarted an Indian plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader and announced charges against a person it said had worked with India to orchestrate the attempted murder.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India will investigate any information it receives on the matter.

New York City was shaken by a small earthquake on Friday with a 4.8 magnitude and an epicenter in neighboring New Jersey state, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). 

There were no initial reports of injuries or damage.

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 4.8 – 7 km N of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey https://t.co/DuTYZ1kb4X

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) April 5, 2024

In Brooklyn buildings shook, rattling cupboard doors and fixtures, an AFP correspondent reported.

At the United Nations, which has its headquarters in New York, a Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza was temporarily paused after the tremor.

“Is that an earthquake?” said Save the Children representative Janti Soeripto who was speaking at the time.

Social media users reported feeling the earthquake from Philadelphia up to New York and eastward along Long Island.   

The iconic Empire State Building reported on its X account: “I AM FINE.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

There has been a significant increase in the use of generative AI by Chinese influence operation (IO) assets. Chinese hackers are likely to use AI anchors and memes to interfere in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India, which is scheduled to start on April 19. This was also seen in the US and South Korea.