India will hit back, Modi warns Pak

PULWAMA ATTACK Stripped of Most Favoured Nation tag, envoy summoned

NEWDELHI/SRINAGAR/JAMMU: 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 JammuSrinagar highway by a suicide car bomber who belonged to the Pakistan-backed 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 where two minutes of silence was observed in honour of the CRPF troopers.

On Thursday, a s ui c i de 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 J&K’S three-decade 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. “This is a time of mourning and sadness. We are fully supporting the Government of India and the forces. There is going to be no other discussion by the Congress party over the next couple of days.”

Home minister Rajnath Singh flew to Srinagar to take stock of the security situation in J&K, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with security forces and agencies on the Pulwama attack.

Opposition parties cutting