India will hunt down the terrorists to the end of the earth and along with their backers they will pay unimaginable costs for the attack on innocent tourists in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in his maiden reaction to the carnage.
Addressing a rally in Bihar’s Madhubani, Modi said: “From the soil of Bihar I tell the whole world that India will identify them and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the end of the earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished.”
“Every effort will be made to ensure justice is done,” he said, adding that the entire country is grieving the merciless killings.
“Some of the victims speak Bengali, some Kannada, some Marathi, some Gujarati, some Oriya or some from the land of Bihar. Some lost their brother, some son, some life partner. But the attack is not just on the innocent tourists, but on the soul of India,” he said, adding that India stands together in the face of terrorism.
“From Kargil to Kanyakumari we have the same anger, some grief,” he said, adding that the terrorists dared to attack the soul of India.
He said whoever orchestrated and conspired this attack will be punished beyond their imagination and it is now time that the few remaining centres of terrorism are dismantled.
“Anyone who believes in humanity is with us,” the PM said, thanking the world leaders for their support in the time of crisis.
India’s strong response to Pakistan
The Indian Government on Wednesday evening suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan indefinitely as a part of some strict measures taken against Islamabad over the “cross-border linkages” that emerged during the investigation into the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack, which saw the death of 26 tourists, mostly Hindus, including a foreign national.The decisions were taken at the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CCS is the country’s highest decision-making body on national security.
“In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in the Union Territory and its steady progress towards economic growth and development,” an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs stated.
Announcing the measure, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in the Union Territory and its steady progress towards economic growth and development.”Key decisions by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
1. The Indus WatersTreaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
2. The Integrated Check Post at the Attari-Wagah border will be closed with immediate effect. “Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before 01 May 2025,” Misri said.
3. Pakistani nationals, henceforth, will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas.Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled. Any Pakistani national currently in India under an SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India, he said.
4. The Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared Persona Non Grata. They have a week to leave India. India will also be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
These posts in the respective High Commissions are deemed annulled. Five support staff of the Service Advisors will also be withdrawn from both High Commissions.
5. The overall strength of the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by 1 May 2025.
Misri also announced that, “The CCS reviewed the overall security situation and directed all forces to maintain high vigil. It resolved that the perpetrators of the attack will be brought to justice and their sponsors held to account. As with the recent extradition of Tahawwur Rana, India will be unrelenting in the pursuit of those who have committed acts of terror, or conspired to make them possible.”
