00:00Good morning. Thank you all for joining this briefing.
00:04As you are all aware, on April 22, 2025,
00:09Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taybah
00:13carried out a savage attack on Indian tourists at Pahalgaam in Jammu and Kashmir in India.
00:20They murdered 26 people, including one national of Nepal,
00:24causing the largest number of civilian casualties in a terrorist attack in India
00:30since the 26th November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.
00:34The attack in Pahalgaam was marked by extreme barbarity,
00:38with the victims mostly killed with headshots from close range and in front of their families.
00:46Family members were deliberately traumatized through the manner of the killing,
00:50accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message.
00:55The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining the normalcy returning to Jammu and Kashmir.
01:03In particular, it was designed to impact the mainstay of the economy, tourism,
01:08with a record 23 million tourists visiting the valley last year.
01:13The calculation, presumably, was that harming growth and development in the Union territory
01:18would help keep it backward and create fertile ground for continued cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.
01:25The manner of the attack was also driven by an objective of provoking communal discord,
01:31both in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the nation.
01:34It is to the credit of the government and the people of India that these designs were foiled.
01:39A group calling itself the Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the attack.
01:46This group is a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
01:52It is notable that India had given inputs about the TRF in the half-yearly report
01:59to the monitoring team of the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024,
02:06bringing out its role as a cover for Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
02:11Earlier, too, in December 2023, India had informed the monitoring team
02:17about Lashkar and Jaish-e-Muhammad operating through small terror groups such as the TRF.
02:24Pakistan's pressure to remove references to TRF in the April 25 UN Security Council press statement
02:31is notable in this regard.
02:34Investigations into the Pahlgam terror attack have brought out the communication nodes of terrorists
02:40in and to Pakistan.
02:43The claims made by the Resistance Front and their reposting by known social media handles
02:49of the Lashkar-e-Taiba speak for themselves.
02:53Identification of the attackers based on eyewitness accounts as well as other information
02:59available to law enforcement agencies has also progressed.
03:03Our intelligence has developed an accurate picture of the planners and backers of this team.
03:10The features of this attack also tie in with Pakistan's long track record
03:15of perpetrating cross-border terrorism in India, which is well-documented and beyond question.
03:22Pakistan also has a well-deserved reputation as a haven for terrorists from around the world,
03:27with internationally proscribed terrorists enjoying impunity there.
03:31In addition, Pakistan has been known to willfully mislead the world and international forums such
03:38as the Financial Action Task Force on this issue.
03:41The Sajid Meir case in which this terrorist was declared dead and then, in response to international
03:47pressure, brought back to life, found alive and arrested is the most glaring example.
03:52The latest attack in Pahalgam has understandably generated deep anger in Jammu and Kashmir and
04:00in other parts of India.
04:02Following the attacks, the government of India naturally responded with a set of initial measures
04:08relating to our engagement with Pakistan.
04:11You are all aware of the decisions that were announced on the 23rd of April.
04:15However, it was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the 22nd April attack be brought
04:24to justice.
04:26Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step
04:31from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory
04:38under its control.
04:39Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations.
04:43Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against
04:52India were impending.
04:54There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to preempt.
04:59Earlier this morning, as you would be aware, India exercised its right to respond and preempt
05:06as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.
05:09These actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible.
05:16They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across
05:23to India.
05:24You would also recall that the Security Council on 25th April 2025 had issued a press statement
05:31on the Pahalgam terror attack, underlining, and I quote, the need to hold perpetrators, organisers,
05:39financiers, and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them
05:46to justice, unquote.
05:47India's latest actions should be seen in this context.
05:51.
06:07Yeah.
06:07Yeah.
06:10Yeah.
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