India cannot rule out 'collusive threat' from Pakistan, China: Rajnath Singh

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that the country cannot rule out a "collusive threat" from Pakistan and China, as New Delhi's tensions over border disputes with the two countries have soared over the past couple of months.

The Indian minister said these words while he was virtually inaugurating a raft of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) projects. "You are well aware of the conditions created on our northern and eastern borders. First, it was Pakistan, and now also by China, as if a border dispute is being created under a mission," he said.

Singh said that India shared a border of 7,000 kilometers with both countries where tension prevails "on a daily basis". His comments come as India's efforts to make headway with China in its border dispute failed after almost five months since a deadly clash between the Peoples Liberation Army and Indian troops in the Himalayas left several Indian Army soldiers killed.

Lieutenant General BS Jaswal (retired), a former Northern Army commander, said that given the tense relations between India and Pakistan as well as India and China, "a collusive threat to India cannot be ruled out."

His statement comes a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed India for stoking sectarian tensions in the country with the assassination of Maulana Adil Khan in Karachi on Saturday night.

Tensions have risen to a new high between the two countries since the last year when India, on August 5, 2019, revoked occupied Kashmir's special status and attempted to annex the territory.

Pakistan has slammed India's moves to alter the demography of the area and its atrocity of placing more than 8 million people in a lockdown, even before the coronavirus pandemic began.

In two separate addresses to the United Nations General Assembly, PM Imran Khan hit out at New Delhi, calling on the world to admonish India for its inhumane practices in the occupied territory.