ISIL 'has failed' to penetrate India despite being home to world's second-largest Muslim population - Minister

The country's home minister, Rajnath Singh, has claimed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, has failed to establish a foothold in India despite it being home to the world's second-largest Muslim population.

He said on Saturday that the government had arresting more than 90 of ISIL sympathisers and have also successfully warded off challenges posed by the group.

"India is the second-largest country as far as Muslim population in the world is concerned," Singh told reporters in New Delhi.

"I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population, [ISIL] has not been able to set foot in India."

Five members of Indian Mujahideen, a proscribed organisation, had been sentenced to death, underlining the government's successful efforts to check "terrorism", Singh added.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, ISIL has claimed responsibility for a wave of killings since 2015 including a major attack on a Dhaka cafe last year in which 22 people, including 18 foreign hostages, were killed.