INDIA UNITES IN MOURNING
PM, leaders pay respects as parties cut across political divisions Pak MFN status revoked; India to isolate neighbour diplomatically Military retaliation on the table: covert ground ops to air strikes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi put Pakistan on notice on Friday to brace for a strong response to the terrorist strike that left at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers dead in Kashmir — an attack that escalated tensions between the two neighbours and united India in grief and anger.
Showing unity of purpose, Congress president Rahul Gandhi offered his party’s support to Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and security forces in the measures they take in the aftermath of Thursday’s attack on the Jammu-Srinagar highway by a suicide car bomber who belonged to the Pakistanbacked Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group.
“If our neighbour, which has been isolated in the world, thinks that by carrying out such attacks, hatching such conspiracies, it would be successful in bringing instability in India, it is a big mistake on its part,” Modi said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
“A strong reply will be given to this attack,” Modi’s said after flagging off India’s fastest train, Vande Bharat Express, on its maiden journey from New Delhi to Varanasi in a ceremony in which two minutes of silence was observed in honour of the CRPF troopers.
On Thursday, a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into a CRPF truck, part of a convoy of 78 vehicles, in the Avantipora area of Pulwama district. Initial reports said 44 men were feared to have been killed. On Thursday, the CRPF confirmed 40 deaths, making it the deadliest attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s three-decade-long insurgency.
“The aim of terrorism is to divide the country, no one can divide this country and the entire Opposition stands united with the security forces and the government,” Gandhi said at a press conference in Delhi.
› If our neighbour… thinks that by carrying out such attacks, hatching such conspiracies, it would be successful in bringing instability in India, it is a big mistake... A strong reply will be given to this attack. NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister
› The aim of terrorism is to divide the country. No one can divide this country and the entire Opposition stands united with the security forces and the government. RAHUL GANDHI, Congress president
India on Friday launched a coordinated move to mount global pressure on Islamabad to crack down on terrorists operating from its soil, with finance minister Arun Jaitley saying the government will take all steps to ensure the “complete isolation” of Pakistan.
As a first step, Jaitley announced after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security that India will withdraw the Most Favoured Nation-status, which allows for non-discriminatory trade, granted to Pakistan in 1996.
He said the government will take “all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan” as there is “incontrovertible evidence” linking it to Thursday’s attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber that killed 40 troopers.
Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale summoned Pakistan high commissioner Sohail Mahinvestigations. mood to the external affairs ministry and issued a “very strong” demarche or formal diplomatic representation on the Pulwama attack, people familiar with developments said.
Gokhale made it clear Pakistan must take “immediate and verifiable action” against JeM and it “must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories”, a person said. The foreign secretary rejected the Pakistan Foreign Office’s statement of Thursday that said Islamabad was being blamed for the attack without India’s envoy to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, was called to New Delhi for consultations on Saturday and the people quoted above said the government was considering the option of downgrading diplomatic ties with Islamabad. The last time New Delhi had resorted to such a step was after the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament, which too was blamed on JeM.
Subsequently, Gokhale briefed 25 heads of missions – including the P5 or five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the US, the UK, China, Russia and France, all South Asian countries and important partners such as Israel, Japan, Germany and South Korea – on the JeM’s role in the Pulwama attack. Gokhale held separate meetings with the envoys of the US, China and Russia. The person quoted above said that during the meeting with Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui, Gokhale spoke on the issue of JeM and Pakistan and mentioned the move to list JeM chief Masood Azhar by UN’s 1267 Committee, which has been repeatedly blocked by Beijing.
The envoys “were left in no doubt about the role played by Pakistan-based and supported JeM in the terrorist attack and our demand that Pakistan ceases forthwith all support and financing to terror groups operating from areas under their control”, the person added.
Gokhale highlighted Pakistan’s role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy and the external affairs ministry will continue to take all steps to expose Pakistan’s complicity in the Pulwama attack and demand action against JeM, the person said.
Senior officials of the commerce ministry, who didn’t want to be identified, said two options were being considered for revoking the MFN-status, including unilateral action or by invoking Article 21 of GATT that allows a state to act to protect its national security. The second option, the officials said, will require some time.
FOREIGN SECRETARY MADE IT CLEAR THAT PAKISTAN MUST TAKE IMMEDIATE AND VERIFIABLE ACTION AGAINST JEM, A PERSON FAMILIAR WITH THE MATTER SAID