This Article is From May 27, 2015

'Stop Meddling' in India's Affairs, Says Home Minister Rajnath to Pakistan

'Stop Meddling' in India's Affairs, Says Home Minister Rajnath to Pakistan

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Jan Kalyan Parv in Jammu. (PTI)

Jammu: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said Pakistan must stop meddling in India's affairs "if it wants its own welfare".

"If Pakistan wants its own welfare, then it must stop meddling in the affairs of other countries. It must stop all its nefarious activities aimed towards India," Mr Singh said, addressing an event in Jammu.

He said India would give a "befitting reply" to those who want to harm the pride, integrity and sovereignty of the country.

"We trust our army, our paramilitary and our forces. No question can be raised on their integrity and love for the country," he said.

Mr Singh said India always extended a hand of friendship towards its neighbours, but Pakistan always resorted to backstabbing.

"Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended a hand of friendship towards Pakistan, but it stabbed in the back. Then when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the office a year ago, he invited all the heads of the state of the neighbouring countries to the swearing-in ceremony including the Pakistan Prime Minister," he said.

He said that Pakistan must think over its actions as it has not been reciprocating with a positive response. He said the government had given open orders to the Armed Forces, especially the Border Security Force (BSF), to respond with all its might to any aggression from across the border.

"In October last year, Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation. I saw on television that five of our citizens have died. I asked the Director General, BSF, to make sure that we are not the first to open fire. But if we are fired at from across the border, then Pakistani side must get a befitting reply with full might," he said.

The Home Minister said that it was the response from the Indian side that Pakistan was forced to go to the United Nations to request it to intervene and ask India to stop firing on them.  India strongly believes that every country in the world must progress and India believes in living in communal harmony, he added.

Speaking on India's religious tolerance, Mr Singh said, "There are 72 sects in Islam and there is no other country in the world except India where all of them live together. The first church in the world was constructed in Kerala some 2000 years ago. The Parsi community got so much respect in this country and Jews say that India was the only country in the world where they were not persecuted."
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