Rajnath Singh In Pakistan As 26/11 Terrorist Hafiz Saeed Leads Protests

New Delhi: Home minister Rajnath Singh, who is in Islamabad for a SAARC summit, will meet Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with leaders from other countries, but there will be no bilateral meetings.

"There will be no bilateral meeting between Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan," Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said.

Nawaz Sharif issued more provocative comments on Kashmir on Monday as Mr Singh landed in Islamabad and rode a chopper to his hotel in the city amid anti-India protests that have featured terrorists like 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar e Taiba, who roams free in Pakistan.

At a rally in Lahore, he lashed out at Pakistan government's decision to "welcome" Mr Singh.

While Saeed was part of protests in Lahore, the wife of Yasin Malik of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front joined a hunger strike in Islamabad. In protests on Monday, Syed Salahuddin of the terror group Hizbul Mujahideen had warned the Pakistan government against welcoming Mr Singh.

Rajnath Singh's helicopter ride within the city was part of Islamabad's plan for "presidential-level" security after New Delhi, responding to the protest threats, said the home minister's security is the "host country's responsibility".

Saeed and Salahuddin have called for the protests against what they describe as "atrocities in Kashmir" and the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in Kashmir earlier this month.
The Pakistan government and Nawaz Sharif too have lionised Burhan Wani and made a series of aggravating comments on the violent protests in Kashmir that have followed the terrorist's death.

"Kashmir is witnessing a new wave of freedom movement," the Pakistan Prime Minister said at a conference on Monday and asked diplomats to "tell the world that it is not an internal matter of India."

India has accused Pakistan of an "unabashed embrace of terrorism" and warned that its stated goal of detaching Kashmir from India will "not be realised to the end of eternity."

Burhan Wani was killed by security forces on July 8. There were violent protests in the valley against his death and about 50 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces.