Mumbai: Terming the calls for attack on "terrorist camps and crossing the border" to fight terrorism as "emotional rhetoric", senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on October 5 advocated the need for reacting "in a matured manner to deal with the scourge".

Emphasising that terrorism is the "biggest threat to Indian democracy", Jaitley said that the menace must be tackled in a "matured manner instead of reacting emotively".

He was speaking on "Challenges before Indian Democracy" at Sheth Shantaram Mangesh Kulkarni Memorial Lecture organised by the North Kanara G S B Co-operative Bank Ltd.

Blaming Pakistan for "adopting terrorism as an instrument of state policy", Jaitley said that the neighbouring nation has resorted to "proxy war after it lost conventional wars with India".

However, instead of reacting emotively and making attempts to destroy the symptoms and modules of terrorism, the genesis of terrorism must be removed, he said.

Referring to end of insurgency in North Eastern states and militancy in Punjab, Jaitley said, "The problem of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is not yet over but we are on a positive track."

The recent assembly elections in the Valley have clearly established that people there have de-alienated from terrorism.

"The elections are a contest between Pakistani terrorism and Indian democracy," Jaitley added.

PTI