Modi gives his forces carte blanche for incursion
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• UN chief calls PM Shehbaz and India’s Jaishankar, underscores need to avoid confrontation
• Marco Rubio expected to speak to Indian, Pakistani counterparts today
• Airports operating as usual, authorities say
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond to a deadly attack in India-held Kashmir last week, which New Delhi has tried to pin on Pakistan, without offering any evidence to support the claim.
A full week after the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of over two dozen tourists, Modi held a closed-door meeting with the heads of the three armed services, as well as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
During the meeting, he told the armed forces that they had the “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the terror attack”, a senior government source told AFP.
No further details have been released from the meeting, which was held at the Indian PM’s resident on Tuesday.
It comes a day after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned of a possible Indian incursion, saying that the next few days were crucial and Pakistan was prepared for any eventuality.
Last week, Modi had vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack, as well as those who had supported it.
“I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” he said on Thursday. “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.
Following the high-level meeting, the Indian media began speculating about a “possible response”.
The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a rapid spiral into military action, with several nations, including neighbouring China, calling for restraint and dialogue.
Late on Tuesday night, US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to speak to the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan “as early as today or tomorrow”.
She said the US was reaching out to both parties regarding the Kashmir issue, and is expected to tell both sides not to escalate things any further.
Ms Bruce said that Rubio was also encouraging leaders and foreign ministers from other nations to reach out over the issue.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held calls Tuesday with Pakistan’s prime minister and India’s foreign minister to express “deep concern at rising tensions”, his spokesman said.
The United Nations chief “underscored the need to avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences. He offered his good offices to support de-escalation efforts,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
According to the PM Office in Islamabad, during their telephone call, PM Shehbaz rejected the Indian accusations as baseless and categorically rejected any attempt to link Pakistan with the Pahalgam incident.
He reiterated his call for a transparent and neutral investigation into the incident, and expressed serious concerns over India’s attempts to delegitimise the Kashmiri freedom struggle by using the bogey of “terrorism”, as well as its widely documented state-sponsored terrorism in the occupied territory.
He also pointed to India’s weaponisation of the waters of the Indus Basin as being unacceptable as it was the lifeline of around 240 million people.
No airport closures
Amid fears of airspace closures due to rising tensions with India, rumours of a possible closure of airports began circulating on social media on Tuesday night.
However, authorities confirmed that this was not true, and both domestic and international flight operations continued as usual.
For example, a flight from Islamabad to Doha departed on Wednesday at around 12.40am.
According to flight information at Islamabad International Airport (IIAP), another flight arrived from Sharjah at 11:43pm on Tuesday night.
A senior official at IIAP told Dawn the airport was fully functional for both domestic and international flights, while an official from Lahore airport also confirmed that flight operations were running smoothly.
Mohammad Asghar in Rawalpindi and Anwar Iqbal in Washington also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2025
