POK will soon merge with India: Rajnath

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the people of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) are themselves raising the demand for a merger with India. He expressed confidence that the people of PoK will merge with India.

Asked about Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's recent remarks about Kashmir, Rajnath Singh said, "Can they ever take Kashmir? They should be worried about Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. I had said almost one and a half years ago that there will be no need for us to attack and occupy because a situation is developing there that people of PoK themselves are demanding merger with India." Earlier in February, a political activist from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Amjad Ayub Mirza, had claimed that the people in PoK are fed up with Pakistani occupation and they are now demanding merger with India.

Asked about a possible scenario where China attacks India, Rajnath Singh said, "God should give them the good sense not to commit such mistakes. India has a character of never attacking any country, but if any country attacks us, we do not spare them. But the truth is that if anyone asks us, we have good relations with all our neighbours."

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegation that China has occupied nearly 2,000 square kilometres of India's territory, he expressed sadness over his remarks and stated that he does not want to remind him about the activities China did in 1962.

During the Congress government, Defence Minister said that if we develop infrastructure on the India-China border, China will enter India, so do not develop infrastructure. After the Modi government came to power, we have also started developing infrastructure at a fast speed on border."