Rajnath Singh to attend SAARC meet in Islamabad as scheduled

Hafiz Saeed warned of a countrywide protest in Pakistan by his outfit if Singh attends the SAARC meet

Downplaying LeT founder Hafiz Saeed's threat, the government on Monday said Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Pakistan this week to attend the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Home Ministers' conference as scheduled.

"The SAARC meeting is a multilateral meeting. There are some commitments. He is not going to give some message or having a separate meeting with (the) Pakistani Home Minister," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here.

He was responding to questions about threats made by JuD chief Saeed over the Home Minister's visit. Saeed warned of a countrywide protest in Pakistan by his outfit if Singh arrives in Islamabad to attend the SAARC ministerial conference.

"I want to ask the Pakistani government will it add insult to injury to the wounds of Kashmiris by welcoming Rajnath who is responsible for the killings of innocent Kashmiris," Saeed said in a statement.

The mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack said "if Singh comes to Islamabad on August 3, the JuD would hold countrywide protest to tell the world that the Pakistani rulers might have compulsions to receive Kashmiris' killers but the people of Pakistan are siding with oppressed Kashmiris".