New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday with top government functionaries, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, a day after India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop military actions.
NSA Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and all three service chiefs were among those who attended the meeting.
India had accused Pakistan of violating the terms of the understanding on Saturday night and asked it to take “appropriate steps” to address these violations and deal with the situation with “seriousness and responsibility”.
The situation has since cooled down even though residents in several border areas continue to live in a state of apprehension following days of shelling and drone incidents.
Meanwhile, government sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi instructed the armed forces that the country’s response to every action by Pakistan should be more forceful.
Following Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Modi told the armed forces that bullets must be responded to by artillery (‘Wahan se goli chalegi, toh yahan se gola chalega’), the sources said.
They said Operation Sindoor is not concluded and there is a new normal in India’s response to cross-border terrorism. The cost of cross-border terrorism will be raised, and Pakistan can’t continue with terrorism while expecting cooperation in areas of its choosing.
They also said that India will never accept mediation in the Kashmir issue and the only matter to discuss is Pakistan returning the territory which is under its illegal occupation.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Saturday evening announced that India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect, after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
The development was first announced by US President Donald Trump, who claimed that the two countries had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire” after US mediation.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was “pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.
The only matter related to Kashmir to discuss is Pakistan returning territory under its illegal occupation, government sources asserted on Sunday.
They made it clear that the Indus Waters Treaty will be in abeyance as long as terrorism sponsored by Pakistan against India continues.
Only talks with Pakistan will be through the Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs). There is no other issue to discuss, the sources said.
India’s position after the May 7 strikes on terror infrastructure was that if Pakistan fires, India will respond more forcefully, they said, adding it was the Pakistani DGMO who reached out to the Indian DGMO on May 10 to de-escalate situation
After the Pahalgam attack, India had told countries that reached out to New Delhi it would hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan territories.
After the May 7 strikes, every Pakistani action was dealt with very firmly, the sources said.
