People involved in the cowardly terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam will get a “strong response” in the “near future” and India cannot be “intimidated” by any such terrorist acts, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said , in the first clear indication of India’s possible response to the incident.
He also said that India will not only hunt down those who perpetrated the attack but will also trace the people who conspired to carry out the nefarious act on Indian soil while “sitting behind the scenes”.
According to PTI, The defence minister’s remarks while delivering the annual Arjan Singh Memorial lecture came a day after 26 people were killed by terrorists in Pahalgam in an attack that triggered wide-spread outrage within India and abroad.
Hours before the address, Singh reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in a nearly two-and-half-hour meeting that was attended by NSA Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh.
“Yesterday, in Pahalgam, our country lost many innocent citizens in a cowardly attack by terrorists targeting religion. This extremely inhuman act has plunged all of us into deep grief and pain,” the defence minister said.
“From this platform, I assure the countrymen that in view of the incident, the government of India will take every step that is necessary and appropriate,” he said.
“And we will not only trace those who perpetrated this incident. We will also reach out to those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to carry out the nefarious act on the soil of India,” Singh said.
