A high-level meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) was convened on Wednesday, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in a deadly attack by militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
Besides the prime minister, the CCS comprises Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Sitharaman, who is ona an official visit to the United States after is on her way back.
Prime Minister Modi returned early Wednesday from Saudi Arabia, cutting short an official visit.
He held a meeting at the airport soon after his arrival where he discussed the J-K terror attack with Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Foreign Secretary Vikram Mistry was also part of the meeting.
In his first public response after the attack, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday vowed to track down the perpetrators and the conspirators of the "nefarious" attack.
"We will not only trace those who perpetrated this incident. We will also reach out to those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to carry out the nefarious act on the soil of India," Singh said.
Earlier in the day, Amit Shah visited Baisaran in Pahalgam, the site where terrorists struck on Tuesday evening, as well as the hospital where some of the injured were being treated.
In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years, 26 people — including two foreign nationals — were killed when suspected terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists at the scenic Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon.
Intelligence agencies have identified Saifullah Kasuri, also known by the alias Khalid, a senior commander of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as the mastermind behind the massacre.
According to intelligence sources, five to six militants were involved in the attack, including several who had recently infiltrated the Valley from across the Line of Control (LoC).
Security forces have since launched a massive manhunt in and around the Pahalgam region, with aerial surveillance and ground operations underway to track down the perpetrators.
Security agencies have released sketches of three terrorists involved in heinous attack.
Meanwhile, according to sources, a few days prior to the incident, a terrorist based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir had made a suggestive remark hinting at the attack, but the intelligence agencies and security forces failed to act on it, which led to the grave tragedy.
The attack was a meticulously planned operation with international handlers based in PoK and Pakistan reportedly giving directions to the militants in real time. Intelligence sources said the militants who were involved in the attack were well trained in using weapons and provided with detailed reconnaissance reports of areas that have lesser deployment of security forces despite being popular tourist spots with heavy tourist influx.
Sources further stated that the attackers were equipped with helmet-mounted cameras, likely intended to record the carnage of tourists and forward the footage to their terror affiliates.