Holds meet with NSA, three service chiefs
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the top defence brass that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom” to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, government sources said.
During the high-level meeting, which was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and the chiefs of the three services, Modi affirmed that it is the national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism, the sources said.
Modi expressed complete faith and confidence in the professional abilities of the armed forces. “They have complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response,” a source quoted Modi as saying.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan was also part of the meeting, which was held amid India weighing its options for countermeasures following the Pahalgam terror attack, which left at least 26 civilians, mostly tourists, dead.
Modi has vowed to pursue the terrorists behind the attack and their patrons, a clear reference to Pakistan, which has a history of sponsoring terror strikes in India, to the “ends of earth” and inflict the harshest punishment on them “beyond their imagination”. Terrorists had gunned down tourists, who were from different parts of the country, in the popular destination of Pahalgam in Kashmir exactly a week ago on April 22.
This most brutal attack on civilians in a long spell of time in the region has sparked a wave of outrage across the country and a demand for retaliatory action against the perpetrators and their handlers.
The Prime Minister’s tough assertions coupled with his government’s avowed muscular stand on the issues of national security have heightened expectations of a stringent counteraction from India.
In the past, the Modi government carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan after the terror attack on army soldiers in Uri in 2016 and the Balakot air strike after the killings of CRPF personnel in Pulwama.
Following the terror strike in Pahalgam, India has taken a series of measures targeting Pakistan, including putting in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty with the neighbouring country.
Earlier in the day, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan had chaired a high-level meeting, which was attended by chiefs of three paramilitary forces and senior officers of two other security organisations, sources said. There was no official word on its agenda.
RSS chief Bhagwat meets PM
New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, an interaction which has come in the backdrop of the horrific Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 civilians, mostly tourists, dead.
Home Minister Amit Shah was also believed to be part of the meeting with Bhagwat. They exchanged views at the Prime Minister’s residence amid the government weighing its options of countermeasures.
Sources said the meeting was in connection with the Pahalgam attack. With the Hindutva organisation considered the ideological mentor to the ruling BJP and having a vast network across the country, the meeting assumes significance.
Bhagwat has met Modi at the Prime Minister’s official residence only on a few occasions.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday spoke to his counterparts from seven non-permanent member nations of the UN Security Council and is understood to have apprised them of cross-border links to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
The phone conversations came days after the UN Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement condemning the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, but not before Pakistan, backed by China, worked to water it down.
Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts from Algeria, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Slovenia, Sierra Leone and Somalia and discussed the Pahalgam attack.
Besides these seven countries, other non-permanent members of the UNSC are Denmark, Pakistan and Republic of Korea.
