Hizbul Chief Syed Salahuddin Warns Pakistan Over Rajnath Singh's Visit

Lahore: At a rally in Lahore on Sunday, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin threatened to stop Home Minister Rajnath Singh when the latter visits Islamabad next week to attend a SAARC meet.

Accusing the Home Minister of "deploying soldiers in Kashmir to shed the blood of innocents", he warned the Pakistan government against welcoming Mr Singh.

The Pakistan government is yet to react to the comments.

Although the Indian government has made it clear that there will be no bilateral meeting between Mr Singh and Pakistani leaders during the SAARC ministerial conference on August 4, the visit comes amid a sharp rise in tensions between the two countries.

According to sources in the Home Ministry, Mr Singh is expected to bluntly ask Pakistan to stop sponsoring acts of terror in India and also raise the issue of slow pace of probe into the Pathankot airbase terror attack, which was carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, and the trial into the Mumbai terror attack case.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had made provocative statements on the Kashmir situation in the wake of terrorist Burhan Wani's killing on July 8.

Burhan Wani was a wanted commander of the banned terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen.

Praise Wani, Mr Sharif also said that "Kashmir will one day become Pakistan", a comment which evoked a sharp reaction from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who said his dream of the state becoming a part of his country "will not be realised even at the end of eternity".