Don't pull out troops from Siachen: BJP to Centre

JAMMU: Cautioning the government not to withdraw army troops from the strategic Siachen glacier in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP President Rajnath Singh on Saturday said such a move would adversely affect the country's security.

"I firmly believe that central government should not withdraw troops from the Siachen glacier as it would have adverse repercussions for our country", Singh told a group of reporters at Mahanpur in Kathua district after addressing a party rally in connection with his Bharat Suraksha Yatra which was started on April 6 from Puri in Orissa.

 Reminding Army Chief J J Singh's similar caution to the Government, the BJP leader claimed that even Singh differed with the opinion of the Centre.

Singh said that the Congress-led UPA government should not take any such step which will have adverse effects for the country in future.

"It was because of Congress that India had to suffer on many fronts and it was because of Congress that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was created and article 370 was incorporated in the Constitution," he claimed.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had clearly told Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that dialogue with that country cannot take place unless they ensure stopping of cross border terrorism, Singh said.

Earlier, the BJP chief said, "the country suffered on several fronts, including rise in Naxalism and terrorism and price rise of commodities, during last 42 years of Congress rule in India."

He also claimed that the scrapping of POTA has helped the growth of terrorism in different parts of the country.