Those responsible for the Pulwama attack which killed 40 CRPF personnel will be punished, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday after chairing a top-level security meeting with senior ministers of the government.
Modi said India would give a strong reply to the attack in Kashmir. “The forces behind this act of terrorism and those responsible for it, will be definitely be punished. I’m warning terror groups. They have made a big mistake and will pay a heavy price,” the prime minister said.
He was speaking at an event to flag off a new semi-high speed train from Delhi to Varanasi, where he observed two minutes of silence for the martyred soldiers.
“I pay tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Pulwama attack. I know people’s blood boils. Our security forces have been given full freedom. We have full faith in their bravery,” Modi said.
Referring to Pakistan, he said, “If our neighbour which is totally isolated in the world thinks it can destabilise India through its tactics and conspiracies, then it is making a big mistake.”
India revoked Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan after the top security meet on Friday.
Pakistan has rejected any link to the attack and called it “a matter of grave concern”.
To colleagues in politics, Modi said it was “a sensitive time.”
“We need to speak in one voice to win this battle,” he said.
The prime minister thanked the countries who had extended support to India and condemned the incident in the strongest of terms.
In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.