Kashmir an integral part, can cross border if needed to protect India: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Blasting Pakistan for giving political legitimacy to terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said security forces can cross over the Line of Control (LoC), if needed, to protect country's territorial integrity.

Making it clear that Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, Singh said the Narendra Modi government wants a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and the interlocutor appointed by it was ready to talk to anyone who is willing to have a dialogue.

"We not only secure India internally but can also cross border, if needed, to protect the country," he said at the News18 Rising India summit.

In September 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes at the terror launch pads across the LoC and inflected significant casualties to avenge the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The home minister said India wants to maintain friendly relations with Pakistan but that country was not keen for it, rather giving "political legitimacy" to LeT founder and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

"Pakistan is now providing political legitimacy to a UN designated terrorist. Hafiz Saeed is now allowed to form a political party, he will contest elections and go to Parliament. Haqqani Network, which is responsible for killings of scores of people are being abeted and given protection. It is shocking," he said.

Singh, however, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has achieved huge success in taking the fight against terrorism on international forum. Earlier nobody talked against Pakistan's terrorism, now the US has also condemned Pakistan, he said.

Referring to the appointment of the interlocutor, former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma, on the Kashmir issue, the home minister said the interlocutor would talk to everyone who was keen for dialogue.

He said despite Pakistan's best efforts, Kashmir would never be separated from India. "Kashmir was with India, Kashmir is with India and Kashmir will remain with India forever," he said.

Singh said Kashmir's children were like his own and would not allow anyone to radicalise them. "I want to tell those who are trying to teach jihad to innocent Kashmiri youth that they should first learn the real concept of jihad in Islam," he said.

The minister said he had personally asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases filed against the first-time stone-pelters.

Following Singh's request, the Jammu and Kashmir government had withdrawn cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders.

"We have forgiven first-time stone-pelters. They might have been influenced by others. They are young. We need to give them a second chance," he said.

Singh also highlighted the government's efforts in dealing with Maoists and the insurgents in the Northeast.

He said the battle against Naxals can't be won through bullets and hence several developmental initiatives were taken in this direction.

"We are trying to reach those areas which have remained unreachable since independence. Naxalism was a huge problem for India but in the last four years we have achieved major success in that space," he said.

Singh said violence in the Northeast has come down by 75 per cent in last few years.