Want good ties with Pakistan but not at cost of our dignity: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Sending out a message to Pakistan, India today said it wants good relations but not at the cost of its "pride, dignity and self-respect" and that it will ensure that "our enemies" cannot go scot-free as even small incidents of terrorism have to be "treated as war".

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also asserted in Lok Sabha that security has been stepped up on the borders since in the wake of Pathankot Airbase attack of January.

He said till now it has not found through which route the attackers of Pathankot Airbase came but insisted that six terrorists were involved in the attack, amid contention by the NIA that the investigators had found only four bodies.

Parrikar as also Home Minister Rajnath Singh were responding to a debate during which the government came in for a scathing attack over handling of the Pathankot attack, with the opposition dubbing as a "critical mistake" the decision to handover the operation to NSG.

The opposition also questioned as to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lahore stopover had achieved, noting that the terror strike had happened just a few days after that.

In his reply, Singh said India wants good relations with all neighbours but not at the cost of self-respect.

"We want good relations with all our neighbours. We want good relations with Pakistan too, but not at the cost of this country's pride, dignity and self-respect," the Home Minister said.