Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting with the top defence establishment, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the chiefs of three services. The meeting was held amid India weighing its countermeasures following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack which left at least 26 civilians, mostly tourists, dead.

Modi has vowed to pursue the terrorists behind the attack and their patrons, a clear reference to Pakistan which has a history of sponsoring terror strikes in India, to the “ends of earth” and inflict harshest punishment on them. The prime minister earlier asserted that India will “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist and their “backers” involved in the Pahalgam carnage and pursue the killers to the “ends of the earth”.