SAARC meet: Rajnath Singh briefs PM Modi about his Pakistan visit

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Pakistan to attend 7th conference of Internal Ministers of SAARC countries immediately on his return from Islamabad.

Official sources said Singh rushed to meet Modi straight from the airport to “debrief” him about the events during his visit to Pakistan.

They said Singh informed PM about the speech he made at the conference, his interactions on the sidelines with the leaders, and deliberations during the official sessions.

Singh arrived here by a BSF plane at around 4.30 PM and cancelled his scheduled press briefing at the airport to meet Modi, they said.

In Islamabad, Singh had delivered a stern speech asking Pakistan to stop encouraging terror groups and “glorification” of terrorists and also called for “strongest action” against nations supporting terrorism and their isolation.

Without mincing any words amid the strain in Indo-Pak relations, Singh said mere condemnation of terrorism and terrorists is not enough and that there are “no good terrorists or bad terrorists”.

Singh’s comments came against the backdrop of Sharif’s praise of Burhan Wani who was killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir on July 8 and his description of Hizbul Mujahideen commander as a martyr, much to India’s ire.