In election-bound Rajasthan, Rajnath Singh said no major terrorist incident had taken place in the country in the four-and-a-half years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, clarifying that he did not want to claim that terrorism had completely stopped.

Pakistan can take India’s help if it cannot tackle terrorism on its own, home minister Rajnath Sigh said on Sunday, stressing that terrorism was the key area of disagreement between the two countries.

Reacting to Imran Khan’s recent remarks that Kashmir was the outstanding issue, Singh said there was no “second thought” that Pakistan was sponsoring militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. “...it is very clear that everything is sponsored by Pakistan. Recently, the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said...nothing will be gained through a blame game. He emphasised the Kashmir issue...I want to make it clear that the issue is not Kashmir but terrorism,” Singh said at a press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media centre in Jaipur. “...Afghanistan took the support of America to counter Taliban. Similarly, if Pakistan cannot counter terrorism on its own, it can take India’s help,” he added.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pakistani section of the Kartarpur corridor, Khan said last week his country’s civilian and military leaderships were united in desiring better relations with India although Kashmir remained the key issue between the two sides.

At the gathering, that included Indian Union ministers as well, the cricketer-turned-politician also acknowledged that it was not in Pakistan’s interest to allow its soil to be used for terrorism and said he was prepared to talk to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, “any time”.

In election-bound Rajasthan, Singh said no major terrorist incident had taken place in the country in the four-and-a-half years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, clarifying that he did not want to claim that terrorism had completely stopped.

Terrorism is confined only to Kashmir where, too, the situation is improving, Singh said, adding the panchayat elections in J&K were being conducted successfully.

Singh also hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was turning the 2016 cross-border strikes by Indian forces on terror launch pads into a “political asset”. Gandhi had also said there were three such operations by the forces during the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)?regime, but the government that time kept them under wraps.

“They are telling it today. Why was the country not informed earlier? If our army had shown its valour and strength then should this country not have any knowledge of this matter?” Singh asked.

State Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said, “The Congress party never dragged army into politics. In our tenure, we had won many wars, but we have never used them to gain political mileage from the bravery of the army.”

Singh also spoke on the Maoist insurgency. “I have nothing against the people who follow Maoist ideology but will not tolerate violence.” Terrorism has reduced and the problem of Maoism will get eliminated from the country in the coming years, he added.

Courtesy:Hindustan Times,Dec 02,2018