Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a top security meeting in Delhi where he reaffirmed India’s resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism and underlined that the armed forces have complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of the response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, officials aware of the matter said.
The meeting at the prime minister’s residence was the latest in a series of security huddles following the worst terror attack in India in nearly years, and was attended by defence minister Rajnath Singh, national security adviser Ajit Doval, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan, and the three service chiefs. It will be followed up with a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by the PM, on Wednesday.
Later in the evening, Modi also met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.
“The PM affirmed that it is our national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism,” said the officials cited above.
“The PM expressed complete faith and confidence in the professional abilities of the Indian armed forces. The PM said that they have complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of our response,” the officials cited above added, requesting anonymity.
The meeting came at a critical moment as India is weighing military options to target Pakistan after the April 22 terror attack, and tensions are spiralling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir where the Pakistani army expanded the arc of hostilities for the fifth consecutive night by targeting Indian posts at multiple points on the mountain frontier, including the Baramulla sector.
The meeting took place a day after Singh met Modi and briefed him on the security dynamics in J&K and the military’s readiness to undertake missions.
Tensions rose further along the volatile LoC on Tuesday after the Pakistan Army violated the crumbling ceasefire agreement by bringing Indian posts under sustained firing in several areas stretching across the Akhnoor, Kupwara and Baramulla sectors, signalling its intent to keep the de-facto border on the boil, the officials cited above said, asking not to be named.
The Indian Army said it responded in a measured but effective manner.
Exactly a week ago, a group of heavily armed terrorists emerged from the woods and targeted tourists on the Baisaran grassland near Pahalgam. Twenty-six people , 25 of them tourists and 24, Hindu were killed in the attack that was reminiscent of the heyday of terrorism in the 1990s and 2000s and the worst to rock the country since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba’s proxy, The Resistance Front (TRF), claimed responsibility for the attack that coincided with US vice president JD Vance’s visit to India. New Delhi has since identified three Pakistani terrorists and tracked their digital footprints to underline Islamabad’s role in the attack.
The latest round of overnight, unprovoked firing in the Akhnoor, Kupwara and Baramulla sectors signalled the Pakistan Army’s intent to further escalate hostilities along a wider front of the volatile border, said officials. The violations are likely to intensify and expand along the LoC, added officials. The use of heavier weapons and artillery cannot be ruled out, they said.
The PM-led meeting came two days after he reiterated his resolve to give the “harshest punishment” to the terrorists. Last week, he said India will pursue terrorists to the ends of the Earth. “The strong intent to punish Pakistan is clear from the words chosen by the PM. But what action will be taken will only be known to the top political and military leadership. We can only speculate,” said Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major (retd), a former IAF chief.
Meanwhile, army and police officials continued their massive combing operation across Jammu and Kashmir to trace the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack. The focus of searches was the deep forests that connect Kashmir with Kishtwar over the Pir Panjal range, a possible escape route for the terrorists .
Separately, National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams visited the Baisaran meadow to collect forensic evidence, and later questioned dozens of eye witnesses, local residents and tourists. Both NIA and local police have collected a large number of videos that tourists and local guides shot before , during and after the attack.
Local photographers and zipline handlers present at Baisaran on the day of the attack were questioned by the police and NIA. Some were still in preventive custody.
Since the attack, India has already unfurled a bouquet of punitive diplomatic measures, suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, downgrading bilateral ties, expelling most Pakistani citizens in India, and shutting down the only operational land border crossing at Attari.
The repeated targeting of Indian posts in north Kashmir and now the Akhnoor and Poonch sectors has sparked the most extensive cross-border exchange since the 2021 ceasefire. Unlike isolated, brief exchanges that were quickly resolved through established channels, the current pattern involves simultaneous salvos at multiple points across most of the 740-km frontier and has persisted with increasing frequency after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Pakistan has also unveiled tit-for-tat reactions to punitive measures announced by India but neither side has thus far indicated its intent to abandon the ceasefire. Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines, suspended all trade with India, including through third-party countries, and has threatened to suspend bilateral pacts such as the Simla Agreement.
The two armies announced on February 25, 2021, that they had begun observing a ceasefire along the LoC from midnight of February 24. They had earlier agreed to a ceasefire in November 2003, but it was frequently violated. The ceasefire violations by the neighbouring army have traditionally been aimed at providing cover to infiltrators.
Last week, Singh articulated India’s resolve to soon punish not only those who carried out the horrific attack but also their handlers. On April 23, a day after the attack, he chaired a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of top officials to review the security situation in J&K and assessed the likely military options for retaliation.