KATHUA: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today accused Pakistan of "conspiring" to divide India on religious lines but said it will not succeed. He also offered India's cooperation to Pakistan to eradicate the menace of terrorism from its soil.
"Pakistan is conspiring to divide India on religious lines but it will not succeed. We were divided in 1947 on religious basis. We have not been able to forget that... All Indians are brothers, whether they are born from the womb of a Hindu mother or a Muslim mother," he said addressing a Martyrs' Day function in Kathua district.
Singh said nowhere in the world other than India 72 sects of Islam live together peacefully.
He said that as the Home Minister of the country, he wanted to make it clear that India is committed to taking along everybody and moving ahead on the path of development.
"If Pakistan is serious about eradicating terrorism but is incapable of doing that and wants cooperation, we are ready to help it eradicate terrorism from there," the minister said.
He said, "We want to live in peace with Pakistan but it has indulged in sponsoring a proxy war against India.
"Every Prime Minister of India wanted to mend relations with Pakistan but it did not understand the language of peace and attacked India four times. But our brave soldiers gave them a befitting reply."
After repeated defeats, Pakistan has understood that it cannot defeat India in wars so it has resorted to sponsoring proxy war, he said, adding that "terrorism is the weapon of weak and not the brave".
Singh said that while the entire world was concerned about the spread of ISIS, the terrorist organisation has failed to spread its roots in India