Pahalgam LIVE: Time to teach Pakistan a lesson, says Congress resolution, calls for unity

US vice-president J.D. Vance has said the US hopes that India will respond to the Pahalgam terrorist attack in a way that does not lead to a "broader regional conflict" and expects Pakistan to "cooperate" with New Delhi to "hunt down" militants sometimes operating from their soil.

The UK, meanwhile, has called on all parties involved to take a measured approach and urged de-escalation in the aftermath of the “despicable” terrorist attacks in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives last week.

At home, the Congress Working Committee met today to discuss the attack, while the Supreme Court asked authorities to not take coercive action such as deportation to Pakistan against six members of a family, who allegedly overstayed their visa but claim they possess valid Indian citizenship documents, until an order on verification of their identity documents.

More in our earlier live blog here.

A former Bangladesh army officer and close aide of chief adviser Muhammad Yunus has suggested that Dhaka should collaborate with China to occupy India’s north-eastern states if the latter attacks Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

However, Yunus' interim government on Friday distanced itself from the remarks made by Major-Gen. (retd) A.L.M. Fazlur Rahman on his social media account.

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India today blocked Instagram accounts of leading current and former Pakistani cricketers including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Wasim Akram, intensifying its digital crackdown on influential personalities across the border in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

The list of restricted accounts also includes former PM and cricketer Imran Khan, Test captain Shan Masood, pacers Hasan Ali and Naseem Shah, batter Imam-ul-Haq, all rounder Shadab Khan and former stars Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi.

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India will be asking global multilateral agencies, including the IMF, to have a relook at funds and loans provided to Pakistan, as New Delhi seeks to corner the neighbouring state diplomatically following the tragic terrorist attack in Pahalgam last month.

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A resolution passed at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) — the party’s top decision-making body — today urges the Centre to act with firmness in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack to "penalise" Pakistan for its continued export of terror and asserts this is a time for demonstrating our collective will as a nation to “teach Pakistan a lesson”.

Calling for national unity and resolve, the resolution also presses for "time-bound accountability" into the "serious lapses" in security and intelligence in one of the most heavily-guarded regions of the country.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday urged 'brotherly countries' including Saudi Arabia to impress upon India that it should de-escalate and defuse tensions heightened after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Sharif separately met Saudi ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliky, UAE ambassador Hamad Obaid Al-Zaabi and Kuwait ambassador Nasser Abdulrahman Jasser in Islamabad when the prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan's desire for peace and stability in South Asia, state-run media said.

The series of meetings with brotherly countries — a term frequently used for Muslim nations such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Turkey, with which Pakistan has good ties — took place amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam on 22 April.

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Pony ride operators were the first to help him after he was injured by a terrorist's bullet during the 22 April attack on tourists in Pahalgam, 60-year-old Subodh Patil said today.

Patil, who underwent treatment at the army hospital in Pahalgam, returned to his home in Kamothe in Navi Mumbai last night along with his wife.

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Pakistan today announced it would continue to allow the use of the Wagah border crossing for its citizens stranded in India, following New Delhi's decision to revoke visas in the aftermath of the terror attack.

The Attari-Wagah border, near Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan, was shut on Thursday, 1 May, after being kept open until 30 April. As many as 70 Pakistani nationals were reportedly stranded at the border on Thursday as the deadline for leaving India expired a day earlier. 

The Supreme Court today granted more time to the Jammu and Kashmir government to inform it about the number of Pakistani nationals detained under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan granted six more weeks after authorities admitted that data relating to such prisoners was lost during floods in the Union Territory. The Court then posted the matter for hearing on 25 July.

The Court was hearing a plea filed by late Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party leader and senior advocate Bhim Singh, who petitioned the court on Pakistani citizens detained under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978. His plea sought for such persons to be freed and deported to Pakistan.

The Court previously expressed concerns over the fate of those Pakistani nationals who were released from Indian jails after completing their terms, but whom the neighbouring country did not accept as its citizens.

The government was, therefore, asked to bring in a suitable mechanism to ensure such nationals were not forced to remain in jails as courts frequently dealt with complaints about Pakistani nationals being incarcerated in jails despite having served their sentence.

Maharashtra Cyber has recorded more than 10 lakh cyber attacks on Indian systems by hacking groups from various countries, including Pakistan, in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said yesterday.

Maharashtra Cyber has noticed that the cyber attacks increased after 22 April, a senior police official said. "There were over 10 lakh cyber attacks on India after the Pahalgam attack," said Yashasvi Yadav, additional director-general of police, Maharashtra Cyber department.

The attacks targeting Indian websites and portals were made from Pakistan, West Asia, Indonesia and Morocco, he said. Many of the hacking groups have identified themselves as Islamist groups, he added.

Maharashtra Cyber has prepared an advisory for all government departments, asking them to strengthen their cyber infrastructure, he said.

Members of Uttar Pradesh E-Rickshaw Drivers Welfare Association held a demonstration, holding up images of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed in protest against the Pahalgam terror attack

Announcing a partial opening of the closed Attari–Wagah border — situated near Amritsar on the Indian side and Lahore on the Pakistani side and shut down on 30 April — Islamabad has made way for its stranded citizens to come home.

Around 70 Pakistani nationals, including children, were reportedly left stranded on Indian soil after their visas were revoked but they were unable to cross over before the deadline.

It did also say, “The Indian decision to revoke visas of Pakistani citizens is creating serious humanitarian challenges,” citing disruptions to medical treatments and family separations.

The Supreme Court has asked the authorities to verify identity documents of six members of a family in Jammu and Kashmir who are on the verge of being deported to Pakistan. It has also directed them not to take any coercive action.

Yesterday and the day before, both National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and his sister Khalida Shah, president of the Awami National Conference, had inveighed against the way deportations were affecting local families — in some cases, splitting up parents from children or separating spouses of different nationalities — on humanitarian grounds.

The United Nations Security Council could meet "sooner rather than later" to discuss the growing tensions between India and Pakistan, said Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris, the current UNSC president. Responding to a media query from PTI, he said that if a formal request is made, a meeting could help ease the situation by allowing member states to share their perspectives.

The Congress' highest decision-making body CWC will on Friday evening deliberate on the situation arising out of the Pahalgam terror attack. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters on Thursday that the entire Congress Working Committee (CWC) would sit and discuss the crucial issues before the country. Sources said the CWC is likely to pass resolutions seeking concrete action against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.

Pakistani forces opened fire along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in five Jammu and Kashmir districts for the eighth night in a row, officials said on Thursday. The Indian Army responded to the unprovoked firing, which follows the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 dead. As tensions escalate, civilians near the LoC and IB have started clearing out their bunkers in preparation for possible shelling.

Rajasthan state intelligence officials have arrested a man from Jaisalmer on suspicion of spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to an official release, the accused had travelled to Pakistan in 2013, where he was allegedly offered money and trained in espionage. He is said to have maintained contact with Pakistani intelligence officers and passed on sensitive details about the international border in Jaisalmer.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the country will "fight to the last" to defend its water rights over the Indus River as enumerated in the Indus Waters Treaty. Bhutto in a speech posted on the PPPs X handle was seen declaring, "The Indus is ours and will remain ours — either our water will flow through it, or their blood."

US Vice President JD Vance, responding to the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed 26 lives, expressed hope that India would act with restraint to prevent any escalation in regional tensions. In a podcast interview with Fox News, he also called on Pakistan to work with India in tracking down those responsible, especially if the attackers are linked to groups operating from Pakistani soil.