The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that India has assured Pakistan that it would not be deterred from combating terrorism both within its borders and on the other side of the border if necessary.

“People used to say that if Article 370 is abolished, then the entire Kashmir will burn. All in all, Jammu and Kashmir is peaceful except for a few incidents,” Singh said adding that the confidence of enablers of terrorism in Kashmir is also low.

“It is true that our enemy forces are fidgety. I can say with certainty that terrorists’ confidence has been broken in Kashmir Valley,” he said. “Now the situation has changed. Our government has said clearly that terrorism and talks cannot go hand in hand. For the last few years, we have stopped having any talks with Pakistan,” he said crediting PM Modi for redefining the fight against terrorism.

Singh was addressing an event “Delivering Democracy; Two Decades of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Head of Government” organised by the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini at India International Centre.

The defence minister said India will achieve the target of ₹3,500 crore export. “We were the biggest importer in the world in terms of Defence equipment. We are now among the top 25 exporters of the world. We will soon achieve the target of ₹3500 crore export,” he quoted.

He also said that PM Modi is ‘24-carat gold’. “True leadership is identified by its intent and integrity and in both cases, Modiji is 24-carat gold. There is not a single stain of corruption on him even after being the head of a government for 20 years,” he said.