Targeted killings of innocent people in J&K highlight raises concern about cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, says India

New Delhi: Strongly condemning “targeted killings” of innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir, the external affairs ministry on Thursday said these incidents highlighted its concerns over cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. “We strongly condemn it. Innocent people are being killed. It is targeted killing. We are worried about cross border terrorism from Pakistan,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing. He said India keeps discussing the issue of cross-border terrorism with its partners and that the issue figures almost all its meetings with them. As many as seven civilians have been killed by militants in Kashmir Valley in the last five days. A woman principal and a teacher were shot dead at a point-blank range inside a government school on Thursday. On Tuesday, Makhan Lal Bindroo, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit , was killed by terrorists in Srinagar. India has been trying to mobilise global support to put pressure on Pakistan to crackdown on the terrorist groups operating from its soil. Following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul on 15 August, India has been consistently flagging concerns over possible spillover of terrorist activities from Afghanistan to other countries in the region. Pakistan’s support to various terror groups is understood to have figured in US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s talks on Wednesday with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.