Kolkata, May 7

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh today said macho talk by “videogame soldiers” in the country worry him. “When I look at the security issues only one thing bothers me. When people who are videogame soldiers, not actual soldiers, start talking macho things then there is a great danger because they do not understand the consequences of war or consequences of being a soldier,” Singh, a former army chief, said without specifically referring to anyone.“We have got a lot of very macho talk at a very senior level. It can create problems, especially when your lower lot realises that you have the strength to do the things which you are being taught to,” Singh said at a seminar organised by the Centre for Eastern and North Eastern Regional Studies Kolkata (CENERS-K). Without elaborating further, Singh said: “I leave it for you to interpret.”Asked about India cancelling visa given to a Germany-based Chinese dissident Dolkun Isa, leader of World Uyghur Congress, he said India did not have any reservations on anybody visiting the country.He said it was cancelled because “there must be some problem with the visa itself”.Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had earlier said Isa’s visa was cancelled because he had applied for the travel document in a wrong category.Singh said China was trying to be a peer competitor to the US or excel it. “Everything is geared that way. Whether it is economics or relations around the world, military or the restructuring of the military,” the minister said. India has, meanwhile, told Beijing it cannot have double standards on terrorism, said VK Singh.  — PTI

‘Can’t flip-flop on terror, China told’

• India has told China it cannot have double standards on terrorism, said VK Singh
• “You cannot say that you don’t accept or you are against terrorism and at the same time you support a leader of a terrorist outfit,” he said
• The move comes after China blocked India’s bid at the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar