PTI
Madhubani (Bihar)/
New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday declared that India will “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist and their “backers” involved in the Pahalgam carnage and pursue the killers to the “ends of the earth”, as it stepped up the diplomatic offensive
against Pakistan.
Delivering a stern message in his first public speech after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed, Modi vowed that terrorism will not go “unpunished” and that every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done, adding India’s spirit will never be broken
by terrorism.
The Prime Minister told a public gathering in Madhubani in poll-bound Bihar that time has come to destroy the “remaining ground” of the terrorists and that the Pahalgam killers and those who “conspired” for this attack would get a punishment “bigger than they could have
ever imagined”.
Modi spoke briefly in English and said, “Friends, today from the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism.”
“Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us.
“I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us in these times,” Modi said amid a nationwide outrage and global condemnation of the terror strike.
In a message to Pakistan without naming the country, Modi said in Hindi, “I want to say in very clear words, those terrorists who have carried out this attack and those who conspired for this attack will get a punishment bigger than they could have ever imagined. Now the time has come to destroy the remaining ground of the terrorists. The will power of 140 crore Indians will now break the back of the masters of terror.”
The ministry of external affairs announced suspending visa services to Pakistanis with immediate effect in line with its retaliatory measures against Islamabad in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. It said all existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27.
Medical visas issued to Pakistanis will be valid only till April 29, the ministry said.
The MEA also said all Pakistanis currently in India must leave the country before the expiry of visas.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri briefed envoys of the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, Germany and several other countries on the Pahalgam attack and its link to cross-border terrorism, people familiar with the matter said.
Diplomats of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Norway, Italy, Indonesia and Malaysia were also part of the briefing.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President’s office said in a post on X.
The Border Security Force (BSF), meanwhile, said it has “scaled down” the retreat ceremony held at Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.
The Jalandhar-headquartered BSF’s Punjab frontier, which guards 532 km of this front out of the total 2,200 km, said in a statement that as part of a “calibrated decision”, it was “suspending” the symbolic handshake of the Indian guard commander with its counterpart and the border gates will remain closed during the ceremony.
Leaders across party lines on Thursday assured their support to the government in taking decisive action against terrorism and destroying terror camps, even as they flagged security lapses in the Pahalgam carnage.
During an all-party meeting to discuss the terror attack, the government said it was taking all measures to ensure security. It noted that the attack was aimed at vitiating the atmosphere at a time when the economy was on the upswing and tourism was booming in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government did not spell out any kind of action against terrorism during the meeting and the Opposition also did not seek any such details.
After the meeting, all leaders assured their full support to any government action against the perpetrators of the terror attack.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said everyone agreed that India should fight terror unitedly and all parties said that they are with the government in this fight.
All political parties have given this message and their leaders have said in one voice that whatever step the government takes, they will support it.
