Pakistan

India will respond to a bullet with a bullet: Rajnath

“If Pakistan wishes to talk about Kashmir, then talk about ‘Pakistan-occupied’ Kashmir only.” he said

News Desk September 14, 2015

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh. PHOTO: REUTERS

In a warning seemingly aimed at Pakistan, India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said his country would not hesitate to retaliate if fired upon

“India wants good and friendly relations with its neighbours and will continue its policy of not disturbing anyone,” he said at an event in Bhopal Saturday night, according to the Press Trust of India.

“But if someone fires at us first, we will not count the retaliatory bullets,” Rajnath added. “We will not disturb anyone, but if disturbed, won’t spare anyone either.”

The Indian home minister also said that New Delhi was ready to discuss Kashmir with Islamabad, but only if talks focused on the territory administered by the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC).

“While meeting the Pakistan Rangers delegation, I made it clear to them that Kashmir was, is and will remain and integral part of India,” he said. “If Pakistan wishes to talk about Kashmir, then talk about ‘Pakistan-occupied’ Kashmir only.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2015.

COMMENTS (46)

BruteForce | 8 years ago | Reply @khurram kaleem: Please do not lie. No where in Simla Agreement is it mentioned Kashmir is a disputed area. As Rajnath Singh has stated, only PoK is disputed. Per the UN Resolutions, Pakistan is supposed to move the troops out of PoK and give it back to India for plebiscite.

BruteForce | 8 years ago | Reply UN Resolutions clearly indicate Pakistan should remove its troops before plebiscite. And, elections in J&K have given the people's verdict. As the minister said, only question here is what right does Pakistan have in occupying PoK.

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goldconsumer | 8 years ago | Reply What about pigeons? How will you respond to our pigeons?

Karnal Sher Khan Forevr | 8 years ago | Reply @Dubya: You Hindus have been dreaming that wet dream for over 67 years since the creation of Pakistan. Pakistan will not survive after the partition in 1947, according to your Indian pundits. Look, we are a small nation with rich with culture and strong might. Pakistan is not threatening India but India is provoking and threatening Pakistan. Listen to the recent statements made by Prime Minister Modi and Defense Minister Parrikar. They are making threats but have no guts to attack. One day make a public threat and next day calls Nawaz Sharif to wish him well on Ramzan. Coward Coward Coward…..

Gau Mutra | 8 years ago | Reply @India: Not sure what you drink or smoke to have such a false superiority image of India and your Hindu population. Maybe you can share some of it with the rest of us to be on the same level and see the reasons to why India and Hindus are superior. No one else sees it except you. On the second though you can forget sharing what you smoke or drink since you could be intoxicated with your own waste. Keep on watching Bollywood movies and keep on feeling like a HERO because the rest of the world sees you Hindus as ZERO.

Kickass | 8 years ago | Reply Look here Rajnath or whatever don't expect a bullet if we start it. You are a minion of whatever group you emerge from and say what you are told. Now tell us what have you got to do with Pakistan? You are some kind of minister for internal affairs. So confine your utterances to your subject lest you may get a rocket from Modi for viciating the atmosphere.

Gaurav rajput | 8 years ago | Reply What a country pakistan is ! When parwez musharaf got power, nawaz sarif was almost going to killed. Now with nawaz sarif in power, musharaf is facing problems. Biggest threat to pakistan and Pakistani democracy is Pakistani army itself.

Abdul Jabbar - Indian | 8 years ago | Reply Rajnath Singh India’s Home Minister - BSF (Boarder Security Force of India) comes under him and State of J&K also come under Home Ministry. So what he says is like Prime Minister says the policy of India.

Syed Ali | 8 years ago | Reply To all Indian friends: Kashmir issue is not ready for settlement yet, as there is lack of trust between Indian and Pakistan. Pending final settlement, there should immediately be an interim solution like Musharraf and Man Mohan Singh had almost agreed i.e. LOC should be made irrelevant and both sides of Kashmir allowed passport-free travel etc. Then, maybe after 10-20 years of Indo-Pak peace and restoration of mutual trust between the two countries, Kashmiris should be a given a chance to have a vote on whether they want to join India or Pakistan or want to be autonomous with joint guarantees from Pak and India. Its really not a big deal and there can be many way if there is will and mutual confidence. However, its wrong of India to define the issue in terms of "not allowing another partition". Under international law, Kashmir has a unique status and is unlike other Indian states and definitely is an unfinished agenda of the 1947 partition. So "another partition" frame is a wrong frame. Recent Scotland referendum allowed by UK is the ultimate example of how to solve such popular national sentiment, as Indian system of government is based on UK system. Its a pity that Indians have elected a terrorist and religious extremist party to government and a known terrorist as their Prime Minister. In Pakistan, religious extremist parties never win more than a fraction of the vote and have no chance of winning at the center. This relative phenomena and nothing else is the relevant proof of respective mindset of the populations of the two countries. Real shame that Indian society has regressed to a degree where known terrorists are elected Prime Minister. This in the India of giants like Nehru and Gandhi. Shame. There is no absolutely no comparison of Kashmir with Balochistan. Despite primary Indian involvement in sponsoring terrorism and insurgency in Balochistan, the Balochistan insurgency is unpopular and so can never gain international legitimacy, whereas the revolt in INdian administered Kashmir is indisputably popular. Ultimate proof of both these assertions: the number of troops stationed by Pakistan in Baluchistan or Pak administered Kashmir versus the number of regular army troops stationed by India in Indian held Kashmir. Always, anywhere, the popularity of any territorial separatist movement can only be judged by the security personnel a sitting government needs to deploy to control the territory. Indian friends need to introspect. Pakistan introspects much more than Indians, even though Pakistan has also pursued many flawed policies with Indian. We should not let governments dictate our thought processes. We should come up with our own reasoning and perspective. Best, Syed Ali issue remains unpopular unlike the popular revolt in Indian Kashmir. The popularity of the Kashmir

Jalbani Baloch | 8 years ago | Reply @myth buster: Just update your knowledge, the British conceded some parts of Balochistan to Iran and Afghanistan and rest were princely states that willingly opted for Pakistan, except Khan of Kalat, who firstly opposed and then joined Pakistan and not only this, but became Governor of Balochistan and then Ambassador of Pakistan to Holland. The case of Kashmiris cannot be equated with Balochistan, and the Kashmiris will continue to fight against Indian occupation, and we Pakistanis are obliged to support them in their just struggle.

ccc | 8 years ago | Reply @ Another Pakistani ironic isn't it as army generals make decisive statement on Foreign Policy matters. Utter lack of professionalism. At-least Rajnath is politician and senior member of cabinet who decide foreign policy along with External affairs , finance and defense ministry.

Abdullah | 8 years ago | Reply THEN india should also expect that Pakistan will also respond to a bullet with a bullet.

outsider | 8 years ago | Reply @India: Everything is about pride and ego to you Indians most of you believe that you are superior than others that is actually your weakness.

Another Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply Also, looks like Indian Govt. hasn't taught its ministers right protocols. A Home Minister isn't the right person to make decisive statement on Foreign Policy matters. Utter lack of professionalism.

Another Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply If India wants to talk on Mumbai attack investigations, then talk about the cases pending in India only.

myth buster | 8 years ago | Reply @Jalbani Baloch: @Col AFTAB AHMAD BUTT: Same logic should applied to balochistan. if Kashmirs treaty of accession is invalid then Balochistans as well.

khurram kaleem | 8 years ago | Reply KAshmir is a disputed land as per Shimla accord .How can MODI detract from indian stated position . What cause current Indian government is adopting will only help the Hawks to destabilize the region both politically and economically .A very disturbing attitude for the people of the region

Amir | 8 years ago | Reply Show us a courage then. I think India is going to feel more pain in the years to come. Good news for Pakistan is that Pakistan, Russia, China and somewhat Iran is coming on the same page which mean India will be getting Isolated in the region. Also Pakistan security situation is improving day by day while india's going other way around with the extremist Hindu policies of BJP. Energy shotage will be coming to end in a year or so in Pakistan which will revive the industry. Brave Kashmiris have started their struggle again which is picking up pace day by day. All is going well for Pakistan at the moment and In sha Allah Kashmir will soon be a part of Pakistam.

samir | 8 years ago | Reply With current Indian policies in Kashmir, Pakistan really doesnt have to do anything. The fire will consume from within.

Kasmiri Pandit | 8 years ago | Reply @Haider Rehman: actually my friend we have already decided and we are not going Pakistan.

Shaukat ali | 8 years ago | Reply To all the Indians, why do you defend the kashmir issue so strongly and personally. Haveyou ever been there? Stranger things have happened. East timor got independence from Indonesia, south Sudan was created. Scotland and Quebec were allowed peaceful voting for independence, catalonia is next in line for vote for independence from Spain. Atleast acknowledge the subhuman treatment of kashmiri Muslims, the emergency control act allows the military to commit any heinous act against the citizens of IOK without any repercussions. If everything is so rosy there, why do you need hundreds of thousands of soldiers there? Pakistan doesn't want and has never wanted IOK. It just wants both sides of kashmir to be able to vote for their own future. Over whelming majority want independence. With all money and power India has, don't you think diplomatically it should be able to tilt an independent kashmir heavily in its favor.

Anil Bhutta | 8 years ago | Reply The uprising is not in Azad Kashmir its in Jammu & Kashmir. The Kashmiri on the Indian side want to join with Pakistani brothers. They want liberation from Hindu which is by the way not too far. The in vain hope of collapsing Pakistan economically and militarily is diminishing. Instead we are growing & stronger then yesterday. That and pressure from Islamabad are showing up on Indian army & civilian leader ship. For sure we gone through rough time but we took the right insurance policy of making Islamic Nuclear Bombs.

@sharma | 8 years ago | Reply ur totally misguided that we pak believe that in few days kashmir will join pak, ur statement clarify that ur land greedy nation.kashmir is a humatarian issue, if ur so sured that we send tout into kashmir to raise PAK flags, and kashmiris r with indians, y u do not hold Plebisite under UNO to testity to the world that kashmiris r indian?

Aman Pasha | 8 years ago | Reply Indians are confused about certain matters and on certain subjects, especially on the subject of war. 1. Indians believe that large size of military machine determines outcome of any war....Wrong Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq and Soviet Union proved this theory wrong 2. Indians believe that they have sound economy.....Wrong.... Indian economy is fragile as any other capitalist economy, solely dependent on Capitalists/multinationals. which would leave India, if geo-political situation aggravated. 3. India can do better without economic cooperation with Pakistan....Wrong...India needs access to the lucrative markets and energy resources of central Asia, Iran and beyond, for which it requires Pakistan's cooperation. 4. Advance military Hardware can establish superiority....Wrong.... it can win battles only, not even wars. India communally and ethnically divided country, where Muslims associate themselves with Pakistan, by cheering Pakistani team and events. In the years to come, India will be in difficult position, already Pakistan is reducing her footprint in Afghanistan.

Jalbani Baloch | 8 years ago | Reply @J.K.Sharma: For how long India will suppress the Kashmiri people, who have never accepted Indian hegemony. It is not Pakistan, but Kashmiris themselves who are fighting for their independence, and since this was an unfinished agenda of the partition, Pakistan is morally and politically bound to support this just struggle. It may be your wish to keep Kashmiri within the borders of India, but one-day the sacrifices of Kashmiris will result in their emancipation from Indian occupation, and this will not to an end to Kashmiri's struggle, but many other Indian States, which are aspiring for independence from India, will also get their freedom.

J.K.Sharma | 8 years ago | Reply @Salman Hussain: Kashmiris do not love Pakistan.In 1965,pakistan was thinking through operation Gibraltar that if we intrude in Kashmir ,the Kashmiris will join the intruders to liberate Kashmir .It did not happen.This was and this is and this must be an eye opener for every Pakistani .In the next war also,the same thing will be repeated.

J.K.Sharma | 8 years ago | Reply It appears from the above comments,all the Pakistanis are of the view that thr Kashmir is likely to join Pakistan very shortly.It is just a matter of few days and their visit to Srinagar and dal lake will take shortly.They are dreaming very high.No doubt ,in Kashmir ,Pakistan has been able to infiltrate their touts who hoists their flag in the valley on some occasions .These touts also able to confuse Kashmiris to create disturbances in the valley from time to time .But,I am sure that 1250millions of Indians will not give an inch of Kashmir to Pakistan .It will remain a dream for all the Pakistanis ,presently and future generation.Kashmir is of very strategically important to India in view of any aggression from China or Pakistan or both.

shafi | 8 years ago | Reply @indian instead of responding to col,aftab in a logic way, u threatened us, this is not 1971,where east pak was non-contagious with west pak and four sided circumscribed by india, u statement clealy showed ur imbalance, lost of arguments and moral defeat

Yasin Ahmed Bhatt | 8 years ago | Reply I am a Kashmiri and we demand our just rights to determine the future of Kashmir. Firstly we want INDIAN forces reduced and special powers given to army curtailed so Kashmiris are not extra judicially killed and labelled as "encounters". I want to be able to freely buy and eat meat. Why can't India and Pakistan setup an exploratory committee to come up with all possible options with open mind to convert line of control to line of peace LOP. I think we as nations lack maturity and wisdom.

Ahmed | 8 years ago | Reply @India you forget 2 Muslim states were CARVED out of the subcontinent, both Pakistan and Bangladesh are independent today. Whose the frog here ? This is what i mean, you Indian Hindus have become blind with hatred and have no logical reasoning. Grow up !!

Salman Hussain | 8 years ago | Reply Kashmir is the prime agenda of Pakistan thats why Kashmirian loves Pakistan. Even killing by Indian Army they are still loving pakistan and sharing love with Pakistanis... That should be accepted by India otherwise you won't occupy Kashmir without their wish and will.

Asit Ghosh. Mumbai | 8 years ago | Reply With daily rhetorics from Mr. Sartaz Aziz about nukes and dossiers, this was coming.

Last Word | 8 years ago | Reply @Col AFTAB AHMAD BUTT: The Indian Home Minister had categorically stated that first bullet will not be fired by India but if subjected to firing from across the border will be responded well. Despite the recent meeting and commitment, Pakistan fired mortars killing an Indian BSF inspector yesterday but India showed restraint and did not respond. Such provocations and incursions which are routinely committed by Pakistan, will not bring peace but may invite massive response which Pakistan term as Indian aggression. India can do little as long as hostile attitude is continued from across the border which even the former Pak foreign minister Hina Rabbani advised to be stopped. India is ready for dialogue when Pakistan stops border violations and creates a conducive environment for the same.

Haider Rehman | 8 years ago | Reply India seems to think they own Kashmir. Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris. And Kashmiris including me. have a right to decide with whom we want to be.

Dubya | 8 years ago | Reply @Col AFTAB AHMAD BUTT: You have faced the music for last 67 years ... OK if wish to continue ... lets complete the centenary ... if u alive till then ... God bless Pakistan

Malik | 8 years ago | Reply @Agnostic: If you do not want to rest, That is your choice but the fact is that now you cannot get Azad Kashmir whose people are not only living peacefully but they in fact manage different Federal Ministries of Pakistan. Those lands belong to the people who live there and they do not and do not want to belong to you. This is the fact you should understand.

Azi | 8 years ago | Reply Don't you worry, home minister, your disturbances are being dealt with swiftly. Your pawns are dying everyday including your "soldiers". Come free Pakistan "occupied" Kashmir where people live a quality life compared for Indian "liberated" Kashmir where everyday there are protests against India and security forces are killed. Take a scoop of reality once in a while.

KAZIM | 8 years ago | Reply @Col AFTAB AHMAD BUTT: sir, we have something very special for you!!!!!!!!!

Agnostic | 8 years ago | Reply Way to go Rajnath ji ! India must not settle for anything less than total integration with PoK. Nothing less will do. Those lands are Indian ancestral lands. We will not rest without it.

ajeet | 8 years ago | Reply The much talked.about UN resolution is not binding. If India tries, it can have a new UN resolution passed with Baluchistan as disputed territory. If the only Muslim majority state can't remain secular in India, the other states will throw away secularism and will declare India as Hindu.

Omar Sadiq | 8 years ago | Reply Again, its my way or the highway attitude my the Indians. Yes, lets talk about the peaceful region of the Azad Kashmir but not bother talking about the Indian occupied Kashmir, where the Indians have over 700,000 forces. This arrogant attitude by the Indians is not going to get them anywhere but only bring miseries to the people of India, Pakistan and Kashmir. Before the Indians start responding to this article and post comments, let me mention that I, for one have ALL the right to say what I want about Kashmir. Why? Because I am a born Kashmiri.

bilal | 8 years ago | Reply Apparently the current Indian govt. with lack of a proper strategy on Kashmir dispute has gone in a state of denial. The statements indicate their helplessness in solving the 68 year old problem. Pakistan should be ready to talk about Kashmir in totality and be amenable to holding plebiscite as per UN resolutions. Stick to a principled stand and not 'innovative' ideas about destiny of Kashmiris. No one can deny that right to Kashmiris, not India and not even Pakistan. Who is Rajnath?

India | 8 years ago | Reply @Col AFTAB AHMAD B already ur country has been dissected like a lab frog by India. Work on educating ur population otherwise once India and China build toilets for its population next generation of Pakistanis would be required to clean them.

Sidster | 8 years ago | Reply The illogical statement from a Indian Government official is good to be release in India because an upside down logic is what the whole nation of India follows. The dispute accepted in UN as a Dispute is not a dispute for India, only if it is in regards to Pakistan Administered Kashmir. If Kashmir was not a dispute half of Indian Army would not be performing law Enforcement duty with especial Judicial Powers of detention.

Ahmed | 8 years ago | Reply Such talk is the result of Stunted Mental Growth, 1,200 years of subjugation has left the Hindu majority party unsure of how to move ahead in a peaceful manner without prejudice and being a hostage to venomous thoughts.

Col AFTAB AHMAD BUTT | 8 years ago | Reply Kashmir was and is a disputed territory and U.N. resolution substantiate it beyond an iota of doubt. The outburst of Mr Nath to respond a bullet is nothing new but it won't deter Pakistan to respond appropriately and aggressively when n wherever needed. India must stop interfering in internal matters of Pakistan thru RAW. We have evidence which will b presented at coming session of U.N. Pakistani Flags are being hoisted all over Kashmir and that should b an eye opener for India.This is Kashmir which is disputed and needs early settlement otherwise India will have to face music. India must stop pressuring Pakistan and understand today's ground realities. Kashmir has to settled in line with the wishes of the people of Kashmir. Earlier the better.

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