Pulwama

right to self defence.

Bisariya’s arrival dovetailed with speculation that India may downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan.

Bolton, in a telephone call to Doval, promised to work with India to “ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for JEM and terrorist groups that target India, the US and others in the region,” according to a readout released by the foreign ministry on Saturday.

Doval and Bolton resolved to hold Pakistan to account for its obligations under UN resolutions and remove all obstacles to designating JEM chief, Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist, the ministry said.

It said that Bolton supported India’s right to self defence against cross-border terrorism and offered all assistance to India to bring the perpetrators a nd backers o f t he a t t a c k promptly to justice.

“I told Ajit Doval today that we support India’s right to self defence. I have spoken to him twice, including this morning... and expressed the US’ condolences over the terrorist attack,” Bolton told PTI in Washington.

Tension in the usually fractious relationship between India and Pakistan has escalated dramatically since Thursday’s terrorist attack, the worst in the three-decades-long Kashmir insurgency that New Delhi accuses Islamabad of fomenting.

In September 2016, the Indian Army carried out retaliatory surgical strikes on terrorist training camps across the Line of Control dividing Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, days after ant attack on the brigade headquarters in Uri left 19 soldiers dead.

On Friday, India withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade status it bestowed on Pakistan in 1996, entitling the neighbour to certain export incentives, and launched an all-out diplomatic offensive to isolate Islamabad, which has denied involvement in the Pulwama attack.

The offensive continued on Saturday, with the foreign ministry briefing heads of mission of Middle Eastern countries about Islamabad’s role in sponsoring JEM. Ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Morocco, Egypt and Kuwait attended the briefing.

One day prior, the ministry apprised around 25 heads of mission, including representatives from South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, France, Spain, Bhutan, Germany, Hungary, Italy, European Union, Canada, Britain, Russia, Israel, Australia, and Japan.

Domestic political parties closed ranks on Saturday at a meeting called by home minister, Rajnath Singh, to discuss the Pulwama attack. “We condemn terrorism in all forms and the support being given to it from across the border,” a resolution adopted at an all-party meeting said.

“The entire nation speaks in one voice to express its determination to fight these challenges. Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India,” the resolution said.

Senior Congress l eader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said the Opposition had informed the home minister that it would stand alongside the government in the fight against terror. Opposition parties also requested Rajnath Singh to ask the Prime Minister to meet the presidents of all national and regional parties.

Rajnath Singh said the government had “zero tolerance” towards terrorism.

“Rajnath Singh, in the all party meeting, said that due to the terror attack on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulawama, the entire country was deeply hurt and there is outrage,” parliamentary affairs minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, told reporters.

“Rajnath Singh assured that the morale of the security forces is high and we are committed to curbing terror in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the government has given a free hand to the security forces to deal with the terror groups and those who are giving shelter to them,” Tomar said.

Meanwhile, protests against the terrorist attack and candlelight vigils in memory of the victims continued. Some suburban train services were disrupted in Mumbai in a “rail roko” (stop the trains) protest in Mumbai. Jammu, where protests turned violent on Friday with 30 vehi- cles set on fire, was under curfew for the second day in a row.

“The curfew is being implemented strictly and there is no report of any untoward incident from anywhere,” said deputy inspector general of police, Jammu-samba-kathua range, Vivek Gupta .

Across the country, thousands of mourners attended the funerals for some of the soldiers killed in the suicide bombing. Coffins carrying the bodies wrapped in the tricolour had arrived in an Indian Air Force transport plane on Saturday in the Indian capital, from where they were taken to the homes of their families.