Home Minister Amit Shah, EAM Jaishankar brief President Murmu over Pahalgam terror attack

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar called upon President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the national capital on Thursday to brief her about the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, ahead of a scheduled all-party meeting.

The Central government has called for an all-party meeting to discuss the Pahalgam attack. The meeting will be held at 6 pm on Thursday in Parliament. According to sources, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the meeting.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council, Syed Naseruddin Chishty, strongly condemned the attack in Pahalgam, saying there is no place in Islam for such attacks. Chishty said, “Pakistan calls itself an Islamic country, but Pakistan should know what is the responsibility of a neighbour towards another neighbour…There is no place in Islam for such attacks”.

The All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council chairman also expressed confidence that the Indian government would take firm action. “The Indian government has made it clear who is behind this attack… Everybody is aware of the power of the Indian Army. Now, no matter how much they step back, India will punish them for what they have done”, Chishty said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress party demanded that the Central government conduct a “comprehensive analysis into the security failures and lapses,” following the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Pahalgam is known to be a heavily guarded area, there is a three-tier security arrangement. It is imperative that a comprehensive analysis is conducted into the security failures and security lapses that enabled such an attack in the Union territory, an area directly under the purview of the Union Home Ministry. This question must be raised in the larger public interest”, Venugopal said during the press meeting.

On Tuesday, terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen while leaving several others injured, in one of the deadliest attacks in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

Following the terror attack in the tourist area of Pahalgam, the Central government announced several diplomatic measures, such as closing the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, suspending the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistani nationals, giving them 40 hours to return to their country, and reducing the number of officers in the High Commissions on both sides. (ANI)