Pahalgam attack
Likely to chair four meetings today, review security preparedness
Jammu: 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 a high-level meeting, which was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the chiefs of three services, Modi affirmed that it is the national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism, they 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.
Moreover, as per reports Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to chair four back to back meetings in the National Capital on Wednesday.
According to the reports Prime Minister Modi will chair the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) – the country’s highest decision-making body on national security –meeting at around 11 am. It will mark the second round of discussions at the highest level since the Pahalgam attack. Security preparations are likely to be discussed at this meeting.
Pertinently, PM Modi had chaired the CCS meeting a day after the Pahalgam terror strike and had announced a series of measures targeting Pakistan.
In the CCS meeting the government decided to put the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance with immediate effect. The integrated check post at Attari was closed with immediate effect. Pakistani nationals who had entered India through valid endorsements were asked to return before May 1, 2025.
It was decided that Pakistani nationals will no longer be allowed to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES). All previously issued SVES visas are deemed cancelled. Pakistani nationals currently in India under SVES visas were asked to leave the country within 48 hours.
Other decisions included declaring the Defence, Military, Naval, and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi as persona non grata and were given one week to leave India.
Officials said that after chairing the CCS meeting, PM Modi will also lead the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA). Besides the Prime Minister, the CCPA comprises Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Health Minister JP Nadda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and other senior ministers.
The Cabinet’s Economic Affairs Committee will meet thereafter, followed by a cabinet meeting.
