Guwahati: Lashing out at Pakistan for infiltration at the international border and encouraging cross-border terrorism, Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked Pakistan if its spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was a ‘non-state actor’.
Addressing a key conference on security in Guwahati, Assam, the home minister said: “Pakistani State is engaged in destabilising India. I want to ask Pakistan if the ISI is also a non- state actor.”
Rajnath’s comments came after Pakistan said it was not involved in terror activities against India and those activities were carried out by ‘non-state’ actors.
Singh admitted that the ISIS, a terrorist organisation active in the middle-east, and its growing influence in the subcontinent was a matter of grave concern.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from intelligence agencies and police chiefs though CBI Director Ranjit Sinha was caught napping in the middle of the home minister’s address.
Mr Singh also admitted that the influence of Islamic State, a militant group active in the middle-east, was a matter of concern.
“India cannot remain unaffected by international terrorism, (and the) activities of Islamic State
“We can’t take Al Qaeda’s threat of turning India into an Islamic country lightly, we should consider it a challenge,” Singh said.
The arrest of Arif Majeed, the Mumbai based man who was arrested Friday on suspicion of leaving India to join the ISIS, brings out the issue of Indian men being coaxed by the ISIS.
Singh also told the chiefs present that though there might be many terrorist organisations in the world, India would not allow them to get a foothold.
The conference is being held outside Delhi for the first time and will be addressed by Prime Minister Modi soon.