NEW DELHI: India’s home affairs minister on Saturday accused Pakistani “state actors” of attempting to destabilise his country.

Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh alleged at a security conference in India’s northeast that Pakistan was still supporting militants fighting Indian troops in Kashmir.

Mr Singh pointed to a guerilla attack earlier this week on an army patrol in India-held Kashmir in which at least 10 people were killed.

“It is unfortunate Pakistan does not mend its ways,” he said, singling out Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence as one of the “state actors” seeking to disturb India’s security.

“I do not hesitate in saying Pakistani state actors have a role in destabilising India,” Mr Singh said and repeated a longstanding demand that Pakistan rein in militants.

Mr Singh’s remarks come on the heels of the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit held earlier this week in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu that was reportedly overshadowed by India-Pakistan rivalry and ended with little progress towards regional integration.

Since 1989 about a dozen Kashmiri groups, seeking independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian troops — a battle that has left tens of thousands of people dead, most of them civilians.

Mr Singh also voiced concern about Indian young people joining the Islamic State (previously known as Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham or ISIS)) militant group as investigators interrogated a 23-year-old Mumbai resident who returned home on Friday from the Middle East.

The man is believed to have spent nearly six months fighting for the Islamic State, according to Indian police.

“Even though ISIS was born in Iraq and Syria, the Indian subcontinent cannot stay untouched by it – we need to be aware of that reality,” Mr Singh said.

“A few Indian youth are getting swayed towards it (ISIS), which is a matter of concern,” he said. India was ready to deal with such security challenges, he added.

Published in Dawn, November 30th , 2014