India will “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist, their backers, says PM Modi

Madhubani (Bihar)/New Delhi | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday declared that India will “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist and their “backers” involved in the Pahalgam carnage and pursue the killers to the “ends of the earth”, as it stepped up the diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.

Delivering a stern message in his first public speech after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed, Modi vowed that terrorism will not go “unpunished” and that every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done, adding India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism.

The prime minister told a public gathering in Madhubani in poll-bound Bihar that time has come to destroy the “remaining ground” of the terrorists and that the Pahalgam killers and those who "conspired" for this attack would get a punishment "bigger than they could have ever imagined."

Modi spoke briefly in English and said, "Friends, today from the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. India's spirit will never be broken by terrorism."

"Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us in these times," Modi said amid a nationwide outrage and global condemnation of the terror strike.

In a message to Pakistan without naming the country, Modi said in Hindi, “I want to say in very clear words, those terrorists who have carried out this attack and those who conspired for this attack will get a punishment bigger than they could have ever imagined. Now the time has come to destroy the remaining ground of the terrorists. The will power of 140 crore Indians will now break the back of the masters of terror.”

As the last rites of several of the 26 gunned down by terrorists in Baisaran in the upper reaches of Pahalgam were held on Thursday - from Odisha to Gujarat and from Rajasthan to Karnataka, the attack has sparked a demand for decisive action from the Modi government, which is identified with a muscular stand on the plank of national security.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced suspending visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect in line with its retaliatory measures against Islamabad in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. It said all existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27.

Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till April 29, the ministry said.

The MEA also said all Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave the country before the expiry of visas.

India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the Pahalgam attack.

At the Mahubani rally, the prime minister said the willpower of 140 crore Indians will break the back of patrons of terrorism.

Modi, other leaders on the dais and the crowd observed silence to pay homage to the victims of the attack at the beginning of the prime minister's speech.

The government also briefed leaders of various political parties on the Pahalgam massacre and heard their views at an All-party meeting in Delhi.

At the beginning of the All-party meeting, a moment of silence was observed for the victims of the attack.

After the meeting, Union minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters that the government assured leaders of action against terror. He said the Pahalgam attack was carried out to vitiate the atmosphere when economy was on an upswing and tourism was booming.

He also said that all parties are with the government against terror.

Leaders across party lines sought decisive action for destroying terror camps. The opposition MPs raised the issue of security lapses but assured that they are with the government in dealing with the menace of terrorism.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefed envoys of the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, Germany and several other countries on the Pahalgam attack and its link to cross-border terrorism, people familiar with the matter said.

Misri, who on Wednesday said the cross-border linkages to the Pahalgam attack was "brought out" during a briefing to the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS), apprised the diplomats about various aspects of the terror attack and India's firm policy of "zero tolerance" against terrorism, they said.

Diplomats of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Norway, Italy, Indonesia and Malaysia were also part of the briefing.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President's office said in a post on X.

In Srinagar, the all party meet convened by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah passed a resolution unequivocally condemning the heinous and inhumane attack on innocent civilians.

Reading out the resolution, Abdullah said the all party meet stands "unwavering in our commitment" to support all efforts in bringing the perpetrators to justice."

"In doing so, we affirm that no act of terror can ever weaken our resolve or extinguish our indominable spirit. We also support the steps taken by the Union Government announced yesterday," he added.

At its meeting, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, asserted that it is imperative that a comprehensive analysis is conducted into the intelligence failures and security lapses that enabled such an attack in a Union Territory, which is directly under the purview of the Union home ministry.

The Border Security Force (BSF), meanwhile, said it has "scaled down" the retreat ceremony held at Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.

The Jalandhar-headquartered BSF's Punjab frontier, which guards 532 km of this front out of the total 2,200 km, said in a statement that as part of a "calibrated decision", it was "suspending" the symbolic handshake of the Indian guard commander with its counterpart and the border gates will remain closed during the ceremony.

These steps, it said, reflected "India's serious concern over cross-border hostilities and reaffirms that peace and provocation cannot coexist".