Maintain calm with neighbours but retaliate if needed: Swamy

"We need to maintain a cool behaviour with our neighbours but if someone attacks us there is a need to retaliate and show our strength to them," Swamy said addressing a gathering.

Swamy was speaking during a two-day seminar on "Continuity of Indian identity" organised by Arundhati Vashishtha Anusandhan Peeth (AVAP), a research organisation founded by late VHP leader Ashok Singhal.

"We also need to maintain a distinction between identity and citizenship. There are so many countries who allow dual citizenship but not India because here we are more particular about the identity and that is how citizenship is granted," he said.

"There have been exceptions though. Like Congress, President Sonia Gandhi was granted the citizenship in 1982 without fulfilling the clause of continuously staying in the country for a certain period of time. I wanted to file a petition against it but our government, the NDA government, decided to forgive her for this," Swamy added.