Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said Jammu and Kashmir will always continue to be a part of India and “no power in the world can snatch it from us”, reported PTI. Speaking on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the Rapid Action Force in Lucknow, Singh said, “Kashmir is ours, it was ours and it will be ours.”

The minister praised the Central Reserve Police Force, of which the RAF is a specialised wing, for deftly handling the situation in the Valley. “If some Kashmiri youths do things they should not because they are instigated by some people, you handle them properly as you feel that they belong to our country,” he said, according to IANS. “But if any person indulges in any terrorist activity, no power in the world can stop you from neutralising that person.”

Singh also claimed that “Left Wing Extremism” will be eliminated from the country in three years’ time. “The day is not far, maybe in a time period of 1-2 or 3 years, that the LWE will be wiped out from the country and this would happen due to your [CRPF’s] determination, courage, and hard work and that of the state police forces,” he added.

The home minister claimed that militant activities have reduced in Jammu and Kashmir while the number of districts affected by Maoist violence across the country has dropped from 126 to only 10-12 now. He said the CRPF has killed 131 Maoists and militants this year, and apprehended 1,278.