India admits security failure in Pahalgam, opposition demands investigation into lapse
World
The conference was held under the chairmanship of Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
(Web Desk) – The all-parties conference called by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday admitted the security failure in the Pahalgam attack in which 26 tourists were shot dead by unidentified gunmen.
The conference was held under the chairmanship of Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders.
The opposition parties raised questions about the intelligence failure in the Pahalgam attack. They questioned why the Central Reserve Police Force personnel were not deployed. The Congress demanded an investigation into the Indian Army's failure and poor security measures.
Asaduddin Owaisi remarked that by suspending the Indus Water Treaty and diverting river flow, how much water would India hold? He stated that while the opposition supported the government's decision, this should not be considered a political issue.
INDIAN ARMY CHIEF IN KASHMIR
Reuters adds: India's army chief will review security arrangements on Friday and visit the site of a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir earlier this week, with fears of fresh tensions with long-time rival and neighbour Pakistan.
General Upendra Dwivedi will visit Kashmir on Friday to review security arrangements, an army source said, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to chase the perpetrators to "the ends of the earth".
There have been calls for and fears that India could conduct a military strike in Pakistani territory as it did in 2019 in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Indian-occupied Kashmir that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police.
Several leaders of Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have called for military action against Pakistan.
Early on Friday, authorities in Indian Kashmir demolished the houses of two suspected militants, one of whom is an accused in Tuesday's attack, an official said.
Governments in many states ruled by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have torn down what they say are illegal houses or shops of people accused of crimes, many of them Muslims, in what has come to be popularly known as "instant, bulldozer justice".
In an unrelated incident, sporadic firing was reported along the Line of Control that divides Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, the Indian army said on Friday, despite a 2021 ceasefire which has been violated several times.
