The government has briefed senior diplomats from the United States and European nations, including the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Germany, on the Pahalgam terror attack.
Diplomats from Japan, Qatar, China, Canada, and Russia were also present.
They were briefed on India’s position and events of the past 48 hours, as well as Delhi’s first response – diplomatic measures that include revocation of visas and suspension of the Indus Water Treaty.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri led the 30-minute meeting that included sharing of material indicating Pakistan’s involvement in the worst terror attack on civilians in decades.
Pak’s involvement was also flagged by Major General Yash Mor (retd.), a defence expert who told NDTV the attack needed military-level training and bore the hallmark of the ISI.
The Thursday briefing came hours after a strong statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The PM, at a government event in Bihar, put terrorists worldwide on notice when he said, “I am telling the world that India will identify and punish every terrorist, and those behind them.”
The real message, though, was not in the words itself.
READ | “Telling The Whole World…”: For Warning On Terror, PM’s English Switch
It was in the Prime Minister switching from Hindi to English to deliver these lines.
The switch was seen as India telling the world this brutal attack will have consequences.
In earlier comments he also vowed vengeance, telling Indians his government will track down and bring to justice the terrorists who pulled the triggers and those who planned the attack.
Twenty-six people, many tourists and civilians, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam Tuesday afternoon. The attackers – five, according to security agency sources – were hiding in forested areas bordering the picturesque Baisaran Valley and began the attack at 1.15 pm.
READ | 5 Killers, 3 Spots, 10 Minutes Of Heavy Fire: The Pahalgam Attack
As tourists and locals panicked, caught in the open, terrorists went from group to group and shot 26 men in the head, in some cases asking questions about their religion before executing them.
Disturbing videos emerged after the attack of women, with blood on their faces, sitting next to the bodies of their husbands or partners and pleading for help. One woman said she had been told by a terrorist, who had just shot her husband dead, to “go tell (Prime Minister) Modi”.
Among those killed was a Navy officer on his honeymoon and a 70-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh.
A 35-year-old Karnataka man was shot begging to be spared for his three-year-old son.
Indian security agencies have said they have evidence to prove Pakistan was behind the attack, which is the worst on Indian soil since February 2019, when 40 soldiers were killed in Pulwama.
That attack was by the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group. This attack has been claimed by The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, another banned, Pak-based outfit.
Sketches have been released of some of the terrorists who carried out the attack.
However, more than 48 hours after the strike, they remain on the run.
As news of the attack broke, the world put out messages of support and condolences. Apart from the US and the EU, Brazil, Israel, Russia, and even China united in condemning the killings.
Meanwhile, on Thursday evening Pakistan responded to India’s diplomatic rebukes. In a 10-point response Islamabad focused on Delhi’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and said any attempt to stop or divert water, or usurp rights of the lower riparian state, will be considered an “act of war”
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