New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a high-level meeting with Air Chief Marshal AP Singh amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians on April 22, sources said.
The meeting with the Air Force chief comes less than 24 hours after a similar engagement between the Prime Minister and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi. Although no official statement was released regarding the discussions, the back-to-back meetings are being viewed as part of a broader strategic consultation in response to the Pahalgam incident.
The attack, in which unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists, is one of the deadliest assaults on civilians in Kashmir in recent years. The victims included visitors from several Indian states who were in the region to enjoy the spring season. The brutality of the attack has sparked nationwide outrage and intensified calls for a strong response, with India accusing Pakistan of backing cross-border terrorism.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Modi chaired a top-level security meeting where he is said to have given the armed forces “complete operational freedom” to determine the timing, nature, and targets of any retaliatory action. That meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
India has consistently maintained that Pakistan provides safe haven and support to terror outfits operating across the border—a charge Islamabad has repeatedly denied.
As the situation evolves, the frequency and level of defence consultations signal that India is weighing a calibrated yet firm response to the provocation in Kashmir.
