India won't fire first bullet along the border: Rajnath Singh tells Pakistan

“India wants friendly relations with all its neighbours. India will not fire the first bullet towards Pakistan along the border,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the delegation of Pakistan Rangers, headed by its Director General Major General Umar Farooq Burki on Friday.

In his response, Burki told Singh that he was the ‘mere DG of a force and not the leadership’ like the home minister and could not give any commitment in this regard.

Burki, however, said that he would convey Singh’s message to the Pakistani leadership.

Singh further told the Pakistan Rangers delegation that they should ensure that no infiltration takes place from Pakistan to India. He also added that both India and Pakistan must unite against the menace of terrorism.    

“Like India, Pakistan, too, is a victim of terrorism,” he told the Pakistani delegation.

Singh held that India wanted to engage in dialogue with Pakistan at different levels and that was why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently met his Pakistani counterpart PM Nawaz Sharif at Ufa in Russia.

“Unfortunately, the National Security Advisors level talks did not take place. But we want to have a good relation with Pakistan. I am saying this not for formality’s sake, but ‘tah-e-dil-se’ (from the bottom of the heart),” he said.

Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Singh further added, “We can change friends, but not the neighbours” and that was why it was necessary to have cordial relations with all neighbouring countries.

He believed that the uniforms of the security forces are great and should not be targeted. “Nobody should fire at uniformed personnel,” he averred.

“If firing takes place for some reason, the other side must verify first before retaliating by using ‘elimination bomb’,” he added.  

Singh told the Pakistan Rangers delegation that if the forces of the South Asian region can come together, they can become ‘shaktiman’ (strong) and handle any situation.     

Saying that all 72 ‘firkas’ (sects) of Muslims exist in India and no other country in the world has all these 72 ‘firkas’, he opined, “That is why India is more Islamic than Pakistan.”

Pakistan Rangers DG Burki held that his country also wanted peace along the border and cordial relations with India.

“Your country is very big and vast. It is a great nation. We also want to have very good relations with India,” Burki said.

The Singh said that he was happy that the two forces had agreed to use the faster fax and email, as the new means of communication between their commanders as compared to the conventional procedure of organising flag meetings.

The meeting of the Rangers and Border Security Forces delegations with Singh lasted for about 30 minutes following which the visitors left for another set of discussions with their Indian counterparts.

Meanwhile, BSF Director General DK Pathak told reporters outside the Singh’s office that the talks had been very cordial on the first day.

“The meeting on Thursday took place in a very cordial atmosphere. We have raised all the issues. The response was very positive. The meeting was extended by a day, which is unusual. This is because of the positivity in the meeting,” he said.

The Directors General of the two forces are expected to sign a joint record of discussions on Saturday, after which the visiting delegation will leave for Pakistan. 

Image: Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets Director General, Pakistan Rangers, Major General Umar Farooq Burki. Photograph: Press Information Bureau