Thursday, November 10 2005 15:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a statement that will be music to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President L K Advani's ears, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) today (Nov 10, 2005) said he is still very close to the Sangh and would remain so even after his relinquishing the party post.

But the organization virtually rejected Advani's view on two-nation theory aired during his controversial visit to Pakistan.

"Advani is very close to RSS even today. He expressed certain views on Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Pakistan. We conveyed our reservation on that. The matter ended there itself. Relations with BJP continues to remain same as before," RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said participating at an interactive session where some foreign diplomats were also present.

"Advani will remain a Sangh member, whether he remains as BJP President or not... He will remain close to the Sangh," he said at the session, which was organized by Sapra India Foundation and was chaired by former Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (retd) Santanu Choudhury.

The RSS spokesman also denied Sangh giving any directive to the BJP about who would be the party's next president.

Dismissing the allegations that RSS controls affairs of its sister organizations, including BJP, Madhav said all organizations work independently though all of them have RSS caders as their members.

"They share our ideology. On certain issues we may have disagreement. But they work independently. They exchange notes with us," he said.

Madhav also refuted the reports that RSS was not helping, the BJP candidates and the candidates of its allies in Bihar since it would be credited as the victory of Advani.

"If they win, victory of BJP in Bihar is a victory of RSS as well since the whole country wants a change in Bihar for better," he added.

Asserting that it still does not recognize the two-nation theory under which Pakistan was created, the RSS leader said,"Partition is the result of the erroneous theory of two-nation. If tomorrow both countries agree that this theory is wrong and should be rectified, everything is possible. But not by force".

"But partition is a reality. We respect the existence of Pakistan. If somebody thinks that Pakistan should be wiped out of map, we would say 'No'. Our main disagreement is on the theory under which the country was created," he said.

The RSS spokesman said the Sangh felt that there were four key security concerns for India which included "Islamic terrorism, Left wing terrorism, China's expansionist character and American intervention in South Asia which seems to curb India's ability to act autonomously".

"RSS believe that India should have the freedom and right to decide its strategic need," Madhav said.