NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given India\u2019s military \u201coperational freedom\u201d to respond to a deadly attack in Kashmir last week, a senior government source told AFP Tuesday, after New Delhi blamed it on arch-rival Pakistan.
\nA week after the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years, Modi on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with army and security chiefs, during which he told the armed forces that they had the \u201ccomplete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the terror attack,\u201d said the government source, who was not authorized to speak to the media.
\nThe government released video images of a stern-faced Modi meeting with army chiefs, as well as Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
\nAlso on Tuesday, India\u2019s army said it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto Kashmir border, a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts.
\nPakistan\u2019s military did not confirm the shooting, but state radio in Islamabad reported on Tuesday it had shot down an Indian drone, calling it a violation of its airspace.
\nIt did not say when the incident happened, and there was no comment from New Delhi.
\nIndia said the \u201cPakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms firing across the Line of Control\u201d overnight Monday to Tuesday, the fifth night in a row that fire was exchanged there.
\nThe Indian army said its troops had \u201cresponded in a measured and effective manner to the provocation.\u201d There were no reports of casualties.
\nRelations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 in which 26 men were killed.
\nIslamabad has rejected the charge and both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir and diplomatic barbs, as well as expelled citizens and ordered the main land border crossing shut.
\nLast week, Modi vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, and those who had supported it.
\n\u201cI say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,\u201d he said on Thursday.
\n\u201cWe will pursue them to the ends of the Earth.\u201d
\nThe bellicose statements have prompted worries of a rapid spiral into military action, with several nations, including neighboring China, calling for restraint and dialogue.
\nUN chief Antonio Guterres held calls Tuesday with Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he \u201coffered his Good Offices to support de-escalation,\u201d his spokesman said.
\nSharif\u2019s office later said he had urged Guterres to \u201ccounsel India\u201d to exercise restraint, while pledging to defend Pakistan\u2019s \u201csovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India.\u201d
\nMuslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.
\nRebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.
\nIndian police have issued wanted posters for three men accused of carrying out the Kashmir attack \u2014 two Pakistanis and an Indian \u2014 who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organization.
\nThey have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man\u2019s arrest and carried out sweeping detentions seeking anyone suspected of links to the alleged killers.
\nThe worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when an insurgent rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.
\nIndian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.
\nIran has already offered to mediate and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to \u201cprevent an escalation.\u201d
\nUS President Donald Trump downplayed tensions, saying on Friday the dispute will get \u201cfigured out, one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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