Pahalgam terror attack: Union home secretary chairs high-level security meeting

New Delhi: Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting which was attended by chiefs of three paramilitary forces and senior officers of two other security organisations, sources said.

The meeting was held amid the charged atmosphere following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

Director General (DG) of Border Security Force Daljit Singh Chaudhary, DG of National Security Guard Brighu Srinivasan and DG of the Assam Rifles Lt Gen Vikas Lakhera attended the meeting, the sources said.

Additional Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal Anupama Nilekar Chandra were among the other attendees in the meeting.

It was not immediately known what transpired in the meeting.

The BSF guards India's international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the SSB secures the borders with Nepal and Bhutan, the Assam Rifles protects the border with Myanmar and the NSG is a commando force specialising in anti-terror operations.

After the April 22 Pahalgam attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security decided to keep the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance with immediate effect, saying Pakistan has breached its conditions.

The CCS also decided that all Pakistanis, except those having long term visa and diplomatic and official visa, must leave India by April 29.

After the CCS decision, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on April 25 called up the chief ministers of all the states and asked them to ensure that no Pakistani stays in India beyond the deadline set for leaving the country.

Later, the Union home secretary also held a video conference with the chief secretaries of all the states and asked them to ensure that all Pakistani nationals whose visas were revoked must leave India by the fixed deadline.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 24 asserted 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 India stepped up the diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.

At an all-party meeting held here on April 24, leaders across party lines called for a decisive action against terrorism and terror camps, assuring the government of their full support.