Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh on Monday described Jammu and Kashmir as a challenge and blamed the political instability in the state on Pakistan, PTI reported.

“Kashmir is still a challenge due to destabilising activities by neighbouring Pakistan,” Singh said after inaugurating the Armed Border Force sector headquarters building in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur. “However, the Army, the CRPF, the Jammu and Kashmir police and intelligence bureau men are acting in better coordination [to eliminate terrorists].”

Singh also claimed that there was a 50% drop in Maoist activities in the last four years and extremism in the North East has declined 80%. “No major terrorist incident has taken place in India during the last four-and-a-half years,” he said.

The minister also claimed that India’s economy is among the fastest growing in the world at present. “By 2030, the Indian economy would rank among top three economies of the world,” he added.