NEW DELHI: Even as Pakistan this week blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) among other rightwing Hindu groups for the poor state of relations with India, the RSS has invited Pakistan`s High Commissioner Abdul Basit for Iftar next weel<, local reports said on Wednesday.

They said the Iftar for Muslim envoys in New Delhi was being organised on July 2 by the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (Muslim National Forum), an affiliate of the RSS.

The idea is to shed the neo-fascist group`s anti-Muslim tag, reports claimed. Men linked to the Hindutva group have been blamed by Indian agencies for the Samjhauta Express and other fatal blasts.

`The aim is to tell the world about Indianness, helping people from all communities live in peace and harmony... India is a ray ofhope and peace for the Muslim world,` RSS leader and patron of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) Indresh Kumar has been quoted as saying.

`Muslim Rashtriya Manch has urged members to host small Iftar parties by inviting people from all communities and spreading the message of brotherhood,` he said.

He urged Indian Muslims to plant a sapling each to curb pollution and bring home the `holy sapling` (Tulsi) and worship it, saying it is referred to as `Rehan, also called the `plant of heaven`in Holy Quran` The MRM was formed in 2002, the year of the Gujarat pogroms, as a platform for Muslims at the initiative of RSS with the aim of bringing the two communities together, reports said. InteriorMinister Nisar AliKhan on Monday alleged that Hindu `extremist groups` like the RSS, Abhinav Bharat and Shiv Sena are the `biggest hurdle` to normalisation of Indo-Pak ties.