Pahalgam attack LIVE: PM Modi says armed forces free to decide on targets, timing of response

In the week since the Pahalgam terror attack, the Government of India has downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan, pulled out of the Indus Waters Treaty, exchanged fire with our neighbour along the LoC, brought the matter up at the United Nations and stopped all trade (even via third-party nations) with Pakistan.

Pakistan, which India accuses of harbouring terrorists and fomenting terrorism has, for its part, said it will treat any attempt to hold back water from the Indus river system as an Act of War and closed its airspace to us — affecting commercial flights more than military operations.

More in our earlier live blog here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Tuesday 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, as he chaired a meeting with the top defence establishment.

During the 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, government 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.

Modi has vowed to pursue the terrorists behind the attack and their patrons, an apparent 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".

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.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has decided not to celebrate his birthday on May 3 due to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashimir's Pahalgam.

"The cowardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam has deeply saddened all of us. For those who went to spend a pleasant time with their families, this trip has given them a sorrow of lifetime," he said.

"At such a time, I have decided not to celebrate my birthday on May 3 this year. I appeal to all my followers and workers that if you have proposed any programme on this day, then keeping a humanitarian approach, limit it to blood donation camps and services. Apart from this, do not engage in any other kind of celebration," he posted in Hindi on X.

India’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Yojna Patel, delivered a strong Right of Reply at the hybrid launch event for the ‘Victims of Terrorism Association Network’ (VoTAN) of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism on 28 April, when Pakistan’s delegate made a reference to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

“It is unfortunate that one particular delegation has chosen to misuse and undermine this forum to indulge in propaganda and make baseless allegations against India,” Patel said. “The whole world has heard Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif confessing to Pakistan's history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations in a recent television interview (watch video below),” she said.

Read more here

A Pakistani national who married a jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been sent back from Jammu for deportation to her country of origin. Minal Khan, who was accompanied by her husband Munir Khan, a resident of Gharota, left Jammu for the Wagah border. She had married him online, they said.

She urged the government to not separate those who married into families in this country from their children. "We should be allowed to stay with the family," Minal Khan said. "We condemn the barbaric killings of innocents in the attack. They should be punished severely."

India last week announced that all visas, barring a few under special categories, issued to Pakistani nationals will stand revoked on 27 April and all Pakistani citizens must leave the country by 29 April.

Seema Haider's is another famous case that falls foul of this order, and there has also been the story of Islamabad native Maryam, who was also residing in Uttar Pradesh with her Indian husband.

Maryam said, "I am deeply saddened by what happened in Pahalgam. Those responsible for this act should be punished," adding however that she wants to stay in India. "Where my husband lives, that is my home. I want to stay here with him," she pleaded.

The handle of Khawaja Asif, defence minister of Pakistan — who a few days ago told a Sky News anchor that Pakistan had been "doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades" in relation to state-sponsored terrorism — has been blocked by the Indian government.

He also said that such dirty work had been done for the "West" in general, "including Britain" — though Pakistan was no longer engaged in such operations. "That was a mistake and we suffered for that," the minister had added, when the anchor asked "So that is your argument...?"

The original question he had responded to had been around Pakistan's long history of "backing and supporting and training and funding these terrorist organisations".

Today, India said at the UN that the Asif's "open confession" exposes Pakistan as a "rogue state" fuelling global terrorism and destabilising the region.

More here.

Posting on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh earlier today reiterated the party's call to hold a special session of both houses of Parliament, saying "This is a very sensitive time. Let us show the world our collective resolve that we are one."

"This is a time for unity, not a time for polarisation," he added.

He noted that the letters from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LoPs Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were written after discussion with other opposition party leaders — and hoped "that the Prime Minister will accept this request and will be present in both the Houses".

With reports of 60–90 per cent tourists cancelling their bookings across Kashmir since the 22 April terror attack — tour operators from even Himachal Pradesh saying business has been affected — it is now a battle the J&K government must fight to ensure Kashmir does not fall off the tourist map.

Bollywood stars too are doing their bit to instil confidence in would-be visitors. Actor Atul Kulkarni joined Suneil Shetty to tell BBC in an interview that people should not cancel their trips to Kashmir — six terrorists cannot terrorise 1.4 crore Indians, he said.

“Ordinary Indians have a weapon for the first time to defeat terrorism. It’s tourism. They should come and meet people and experience the place,” said Kulkarni, who took a shikara ride on the Dal Lake and shared photos on X with many a tourist group and alone.

He also offered up a bit of poetry along with his invitation to the banks of the Indus (the upper bit of which flows through Ladakh before entering Pakistan) and the Jhelum.

"This is the estate of Hindustan/ [where] hate is defeated by love," he posted with the hashtag #ChaloKashmir

Shetty for his part had been interviewed in Mumbai earlier and offered up "Humari agli chhutti Kashmir mein hogi (our next holiday will be in Kashmir)", adding that the current situation is no fault of the children of Kashmir, in an acknowledgement of the effect the incident is bound to have on local livelihoods.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, currently on a visit to his Lok Sabha constituency of Rae Bareli and family home base in Amethi, will be visiting Kanpur tomorrow to visit the family of a victim of the Pahalgam attack. More here

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti alleges that "divisive forces" are spreading "communal hate" on social media in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, and says they must be identified and dealt with firmly to maintain peace and harmony in not just Kashmir but across India.

The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said she has received distress calls from Kashmiri students across the country "living in fear due to the ongoing unrest".

"Some institutions have postponed exams and advised students to return home until normalcy is restored, while others have decided otherwise," she said.

Mehbooba also urged union home minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of all states to intervene and ensure the safety of all students until they can safely return home. Earlier, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah had also said he was sending his cabinet ministers to the affected states to meet with the respective chief ministers.

"Additionally, a strong message must be sent to those spreading communal hate on social media. Such divisive forces must be identified and dealt with firmly to maintain peace and harmony," she added.

The Congress has noted that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has announced its executive board is meeting on 9 May to consider a new USD 1.3 billion loan to Pakistan, and hopes India to strongly oppose this assistance.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posted about the loan requested by Pakistan under the IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Facility. "The Congress expects India to strongly oppose this assistance," he said.

Ramesh also shared the screenshot of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board calendar, which shows that it will meet on 9 May to discuss the "first review under the extended arrangement under the extended fund facility, request for modification of performance criteria, and request for an arrangement under the resilience and sustainability facility".

The Congress had last Thursday, 24 April, said in its CWC resolution that the Pahalgam attack masterminded by Pakistan is a direct assault on the values of our republic — while also calling for an evaluation of our own intelligence failure that allowed this tragedy to unfold.

A.K. Bajaj, during his tenure as chairman of the Central Water Commission from 2008 to 2011, played a pivotal role in the intricate negotiations surrounding the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with his Pakistani counterparts.

In an interview that has appeared in the New Indian Express, he has claimed that the treaty was somewhat lenient towards the lower riparian state [Pakistan] and thus there was no “effective negotiation” to secure more water from the western rivers — Jhelum, Chenab and Indus.

He suggested that the terms should be renegotiated to allow India to hold water for at least a week to generate sufficient electricity and to push for the creation of storage to hold 3.6 million acre-feet (maf).

In light of the recent terrorist attacks in Pahalgam, India has sent a notice indicating that it shall hold the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance. If the situation escalates further, India has indicated it may unilaterally abrogate the treaty — though legal experts and political observers are in some doubt as to the legality and, indeed, advisability of such a step.

However, Bajaj claimed that even the Vienna Convention states that if relations between two countries become sour due to a humanitarian crisis, a country can withdraw from the treaty.

Amplifying the concerns of tourists and survivors of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav posted on X to ask, "Why was there no one to protect me [sic] amid danger?"

He also questioned the government's priorities with respect to security in Jammu and Kashmir. More here.

He concludes his post by saying, "Statements of those who have lost their loved ones may be changed by putting pressure on them, but BJP members should remember that changing statements does not change the truth."

More here.

In a post on X, Congress leader Pawan Khera amplified the anxieties of the family of BSF constable Purnam Sahu, who was detained by the Pakistan Rangers — a paramilitary force — for having strayed out past the buffer zone at the LoC.

"What steps is the government taking to secure his safe return?" he asked.

It has been almost a week since Sahu was detained.

"When the entire nation is in grief and everyone’s eyes are filled with tears, there must be a discussion inside Parliament," said Congress leader Raashid Alvi in Delhi.

"Many questions must be asked of the government during the Parliament session," he added.

"Questions will be raised:

"Why were the checkpoints removed?

"Why was there no security arrangement in place?

"Why did people suffer for one and a half hours without any army, police, or doctors present?

"Where did your intelligence vanish? It seems the terrorists had better intelligence than your agencies..."

The Omar Abdullah government of Jammu and Kashmir has put out a list of 48 destinations — including areas of Dachigam — that are being closed to tourists.

Other destinations in the union territory have been provided with proper security, an official said.

The valley has 87 key tourist destinations, out of which 48 have been closed now.

Kashmir has already witnessed a drop in tourists after the Pahalgam terror attack. The number of arrivals at Srinagar airport has witnessed a steep decline too.

More here.

At this critical time, India must show that we always stand together against terrorism, said the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in an X post sharing the letter he sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote in his letter: "This will be a powerful demonstration of our collective resolve and willpower to deal with the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on innocent citizens on 22 April. It is our fond hope that the session will be accordingly convened."

More here.