ome Minister Rajnath Singh says Imran Khan didn’t offer condolences for the deaths of Indian soldiers in last week’s terrorist attack in Pulwama, and asks what right the Pakistan prime minister has to talk about terrorism.

Rajnath Singh’s remarks came in an exclusive interview with Aaj Tak broadcast on Friday, around a week after 40 CRPF paramilitary soldiers were martyred in a suicide bombing carried out Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group.

India has accused Pakistani intelligence of involvement, but Islamabad has denied responsibility. In a televised address, Imran Khan said his country would retaliate if India attacked.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said this week it was not surprised that Khan, who was appointed Pakistan prime minister last year, “refuses to acknowledge the attack on our security forces in Pulwama as an act of terrorism”.

Imran Khan neither chose to condemn the Pulwama attack nor offered condolences to the bereaved families, the ministry said.

‘IF PAKISTAN READY FOR WAR, SO ARE WE’

Rajnath Singh told Aaj Tak that he would not say how India would respond, pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces had full freedom. Singh said that if Pakistan was ready for war, so was India.

He said that after the Pulwama attack, he had asked security forces to protect Kashmiri youth all over India, and that his government would not compromise on their safety.

On Thursday, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah decried what he said was a motivated campaign to spread the message that Kashmiris could not be trusted, and said the future of many Kashmiri students was at risk.