'India will never be a theocratic state like Pakistan': RSS leader

Even though RSS head Mohan Bhagwat describes India as a 'Hindu Rashtra', senior RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale said on Monday that India could never become a theocratic country. Hosabale was speaking at an event organised by a think tank aligned with the RSS.

"India will never become a theocratic state," Hosabale said, because "cultural traditions" would never allow India to become a country based on religion, unlike Pakistan which had "negated the cultural legacy and become an Islamic state".

Hosabale said: "We have civilisational relations with Pakistan but there are deep cultural differences. There are cultural differences because Pakistan is a theocratic state. India will never become a theocratic state."

He added that the Modi government's efforts to engage with Pakistan led to the terrorist attack on the Pathankot air force base this January, according to The Telegraph.

"Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Lahore bus trip ended with the Agra summit. Narendra Modi's effort to improve relations with his Lahore trip has ended with the Pathankot attack," he said.