Ready for dialogue with Pakistan if it stops promoting terrorism: Rajnath Singh

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday (September 22) said India is ready to embrace Pakistan and start a process of dialogue with it provided the neighbouring country gives a guarantee that it will stop promoting terrorism on Indian soil.

Singh accused the Congress, National Conference (NC) and People's Democratic Party (PDP) of working as "proxies of Pakistan" and said the BJP will not allow anyone to run the "impure agenda" of Islamabad in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing poll rallies at Kotranka and Sunderbani in support of BJP candidates Choudhary Zulfikar Ali (Budhal Assembly segment) and Thakur Randhir Singh (Kalakote-Sunderbani seat) in this border district, Singh said Hindu-Muslim unity is imperative for the country's progress.

‘Talks, terrorism can’t go together’

"They (NC and PDP) are advocating dialogue with Pakistan, a country that is aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorism and dialogue cannot go on together but if Pakistan gives a guarantee that it will stop promoting terrorism on Indian soil, we are ready to embrace it and start talks," he said.

The defence minister said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism has consumed thousands of lives in Jammu and Kashmir, with 80 per cent of its victims being Muslims.

Referring to the reported remarks of Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif that his country and the NC-Congress alliance are on the same page on restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution, he said a poverty-ridden Pakistan is interfering in India's internal affairs.

'Pak interfering in India’s affairs'

"The graceless and shameless statement of the Pakistani leader amounts to interference in our internal affairs. Pakistan has become an international brand of poverty and destitution. It is unable to handle its own affairs but is worried about India's internal matters," Singh said.

"Be assured that terrorism will be wiped out from Jammu and Kashmir," the defence minister said, adding that the Union Territory has suffered a lot due to terror activities for three decades and the BJP is ready to make a "new Jammu and Kashmir", without allowing anyone to push it backwards.

Lashing out at the Congress, NC and PDP, Singh said any Indian is welcome to do politics based on the issues facing the country, instead of working as a "proxy of Pakistan".

After the provisions of Article 370 were abrogated in August 2019, the government got an opportunity to rebuild Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said, adding, "No power can restore it again."

Questions NC-Cong manifesto

He questioned the poll manifestoes of the NC, Congress and PDP that talk about restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir and said, "The prime minister has already promised that statehood will be restored. These parties are misleading people on the issue."

Singh accused the opposition of dividing the country in the name of religion and said, "We cannot achieve progress without unity among Hindus and Muslims. We can only make a country's head high when we move together." The veteran leader asserted that no power can stop the BJP from forming its government in Jammu and Kashmir after the conclusion of the ongoing Assembly polls in the Union Territory.

Singh said Pakistani refugees and members of the Valmiki Samaj are going to vote in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls for the first time in seven decades, which was made possible by the BJP-led government by ensuring justice with the deprived population, including the Scheduled Tribes (STs) who were provided reservation in the Assembly.

(With agency inputs)