New Delhi: The Indian trait of worshiping cows should not be strictly linked to religiosity as this had more to do with creating a strong rural economy, union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has said.

"Even these days, any rural family that breeds a cow will never die of starvation. It will be wrong to link cow worship to religious feelings alone. The religious sentiment is one side of it, it should be respected. But cow breeding as an habit must be understood as a basis of traditional India's rural economy," Singh said at a book release function on Wednesday night.