April 29, 2025
NEW DELHI – Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday at the latter’s residence amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The meeting came in the wake of Pakistan resorting to unprovoked cross-border firing on the fourth day in a row.
“During the (intervening) night of 27-28 April 2025, Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small arms fire across the Line of Control in areas opposite Kupwara and Poonch districts. Indian troops responded swiftly and effectively,” an Army spokesperson said.
Earlier on Sunday, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan met the defence minister to update him about the decisions taken by the armed forces after Pakistan sponsored the terror attack that resulted in the death of 26 tourists. A crucial meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence is also scheduled to take place in the Parliament House Annexe on Monday afternoon.
Following the attack at Baisaran meadow, considered to be the deadliest attack in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike, which claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, the Indian Army had launched major search operations in the area.
Lambasting Pakistan for the attacks, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) Chief Farooq Abdullah said their was a need for action that prevents such attacks in the future.
Stating the Pakistan has “murdered humanity”, Abdullah, while speaking to the media, said it should not expect India to compromise on its principles. “I used to favour dialogue with Pakistan every time. How will we answer those who lost their loved ones? Are we doing justice? Not Balakot, today the nation wants such action to be taken so that these kinds of attacks never happen,” Abdullah said.
Rejecting the two-nation theory in the wake of Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir repeatedly raising it, the JKNC chief said Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians are all one.
“We regret that our neighbour today also does not understand that it has murdered humanity. If they think that we will go with Pakistan by doing this, we should clear their misunderstanding. We did not go with them in 1947, so why will we go today? We threw the two-nation theory into the water at that time. Today, we are also not ready to accept the two-nation theory. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian, we are all one. We will give a befitting reply to them,” Abdullah said.