New Delhi, September 28: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS and India are synonymous now, said Sangh leader Dr Krishna Gopal Sharma. Replying to a question related to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) where he mentioned RSS, Sharma said that the Sangh always wanted the world to see RSS and India as one and not two different ideas. Imran Khan Goofs Up During UNGA Speech, Netizens Troll Pakistan PM on Twitter For 'President' Modi, 'Check on Google' Remarks and Exceeding Time Limit.

"RSS is only in India. We don't have any branches anywhere in the world. If Pakistan is angry with us it means they are angry with India. RSS and India are synonyms now. We also wanted the world to see India and RSS as one," Sharma told an audience. Taking a dit at Imran Khan, he said that Pakistan's Prime Minister is helping RSS in spreading its message that Sangh and India are one. "People have started realising that RSS is against terrorism," Sharma added. India Counters Pakistan at UNGA, Says 'Imran Khan's Speech is Reminiscent of Dara Adam Khel's Guns'.

In his address at 74th session of the UNGA in New York on Friday, Khan pointed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's link with the RSS, adding that the Sangh is "inspired by German dictator Adolf Hitler, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini". "RSS believes in the ethnic cleansing of Muslims. RSS goons butchered hundreds of Muslims," Khan said. "The previous Congress Home Minister gave a statement that in RSS camps, terrorists are being trained," he added.

Continuing Pakistan's anti-India rhetoric over New Delhi's move to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370, Khan held out the threat of a conventional war spinning out of control between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. India, exercising the "Right to Reply" option, hit back at Pakistan and said that Imran Khan's address was a "hate speech".

"Rarely has the General Assembly witnessed such misuse, rather abuse, of an opportunity to reflect. Words matter in diplomacy. Invocation of phrases such as 'pogrom', 'bloodbath', 'racial superiority', 'pick up the gun' and 'fight to the end' reflect a medieval mindset and not a 21st-century vision," Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 28, 2019 01:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).