He also said children of Jammu and Kashmir are "nationalists" and "sometimes they are motivated in the wrong direction."

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said Indian values consider all religions equal, and that is why “the country is secular and never became a theocratic state like Pakistan.”

Speaking at the NCC Republic Day Camp in Delhi, Mr. Singh said: “We (India) said we would not discriminate among religions. Why did we do that? Our neighbouring country has declared that their State has a religion. They have declared themselves a theocratic State. We didn’t declare so.”

“Even America is a theocratic country. India is not a theocratic country. Why? Because our saints and seers did not just consider the people living within our borders as part of the family, but called everyone living in the world as one family,” the Minister said.

Mr. Singh underlined that India had never declared its religion would be Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist and people of all religions could live here.

“They gave the slogan of ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ — the whole world is one family. This message has gone to the whole world from here only,” he added.

He also said children of Jammu and Kashmir are "nationalists" and shouldn’t be seen in any other way. "Sometimes they are motivated in the wrong direction," he added, when asked about his kids in the State who are being motivated to join the National Cadet Corps.

“Youngsters are youngsters. Sometimes, the way they should be motivated, people do not motivate them. In fact, they are motivated in the wrong direction. That is why the kids should not be blamed for this. The ones who are motivating them in wrong direction are the culprits,” the Defence Minister added.