No religion, whether Hinduism, Islam or Christianity, preaches terror, says Venkiah Naidu in California

San Jose: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday reinforced that terrorism has no religion while interacting with the Indian community in San Jose during his official three-day visit. “Terrorism isn’t an issue for India alone. It’s an international issue. Even America, that never used to understand our pain, are now understanding. Terrorism is the enemy of humanity, terror has no religion. No religion whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian preaches terror,” the vice president said. He also made an apparent reference to Pakistan during his speech. “We’re a peace-loving country. All Tom, Dick and Harry came and attacked us, ruled us, ruined us, cheated us…But we never attacked anyone because we believe in the philosophy that the entire world is one family…But we have a neighbour who is aiding, training, funding terrorists,” he said. Talking about the recent anti-terror strikes, he said: “Our neighbour is aiding terrorists, open secret. Recently after Pulwama attack where 40 security personnel lost their lives, four of our Indian Air Force aircraft went to Pakistan, targeted that training camp, destroyed it and came back without any problem within 21 minutes.” Following the interaction, Naidu embarked for his journey back to New Delhi, wrapping up his first two-nation, five-day visit to Costa Rica and Paraguay. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted on Sunday:

¡Hasta la próxima!

After a productive visit to Costa Rica, the last leg of the two-nation tour of Latin America, VP @MVenkaiahNaidu emplanes for a long ride home. This historic visit has fortified relations with two important countries of the region.

@VPSecretariat pic.twitter.com/kOSjUXUuOq

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 10, 2019

Naidu pushed for closer trade ties between India and Costa Rica during India’s first VVIP visit to the Central American country. On Thursday, Naidu was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the University for Peace founded by the United Nations Organisations (UNO) for his contribution “to the Rule of Law, democracy and sustainable development in India”. India and Costa Rica signed and exchanged two documents following talks between Naidu and Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada on Friday.