Girls from the Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, participating in a self-defense training camp in Jammu in July last year. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday threatened to launch an international movement against the CIA if it doesn't change its classification of the Hindu group as a religious militant organisation.

The VHP said it's a nationalist group which works for the betterment of the country, and called the CIA's allegations "baseless" and "false".

In a statement, the VHP said the US intelligence agency was responsible for creating Osama bin Laden, and had "no moral right" to lecture it.

It pointed to the map of India the CIA uses (which shows significant portions of Jammu and Kashmir as non-Indian territory), and said this "vindicated" the agency's "anti-India mindset".

Members of the Durga Vahini, the VHP's women's wing, showing their self-defence skills with firearms at the concluding ceremony of a week-long women's training camp on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on May 21, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

Surendra Jain, the VHP's leader, asked the CIA to apologise and "rectify its mistake". He also asked the government to take the matter up with Washington.

Besides the VHP, the CIA also calls the Bajrang Dal a militant religious group. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent organisation of the BJP, is listed as a nationalist organisation in the factbook.

A Sadhu holding a trident during a religious meeting organised by the VHP in Lucknow on March 24, 2009. (Photo: Reuters)

Inputs from Rahul Shrivastava

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