SOURCE ; NEW18
Last Updated:April 29, 2025, 22:16 IST
PM Modi stated that Indian armed forces have full operational freedom to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a high-level meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, the tri-services chiefs, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. (IMAGE: SOURCED)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Indian armed forces have complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of the nation’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack where 26 tourists were killed.
Speaking at a high-level security meet, the PM said that it is our national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism. He expressed complete faith and confidence in the professional abilities of the Indian armed forces, government sources said.
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The high-level security meeting chaired by the Prime Minister at his residence in New Delhi went on for more than one and a half hour. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Services (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal (ACM) AP Singh, Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, and Indian Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi were present in the meeting at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in the capital.
PM Modi’s huddle comes ahead of the crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday. PM Modi had chaired the CCS meeting on April 23 evening, immediately after he returned from his curtailed Saudi Arabia trip.
It is pertinent to highlight that India carried out aerial strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot, targeting training camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group in the wake of Pulwama attack in 2019. Three years before air strikes, the Indian army conducted surgical strikes on terrorist camps in PoK in retaliation for a terrorist attack on an army base in Uri, where 19 soldiers lost their lives.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that a military incursion by India was “imminent”, adding that Islamabad has reinforced its forces
Though Pakistan has officially denied its involvement, the Resistance Front (TRF), a rebranded proxy of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a public event in Bihar on April 24, Modi vowed to pursue the terrorists behind the attack and their patrons, a clear reference to Pakistan which has a history of sponsoring terror strikes in India, to the “ends of earth” and inflict harshest punishment on them.
Earlier today, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan chaired a high-level meeting which was attended by chiefs of three paramilitary forces and senior officers of two other security organisations, news agency PTI reported citing sources.
Director General (DG) of Border Security Force Daljit Singh Chaudhary, DG of National Security Guard Brighu Srinivasan and DG of the Assam Rifles Lt Gen Vikas Lakhera attended the meeting, the sources said. Additional Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal Anupama Nilekar Chandra were among the other attendees in the meeting.
The BSF guards India’s international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the SSB secures the borders with Nepal and Bhutan, the Assam Rifles protects the border with Myanmar and the NSG is a commando force specialising in anti-terror operations.
