DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM IN MESSAGE TO WORLD, PM VOWS ACTION ON PAHALGAM ATTACK PERPETRATORS, BACKERS ‘Willtrackterrorists,pursue themtotheendsoftheearth’ Entire nation firm in this resolve, everyone who believes in humanity is with us, terror can’t break India’s spirit: Modi PRESSURE ON PAKISTAN Indus abeyance is official, all visas cancelled: Delhi turns the screws Meloni, Netanyahu, Macron and el-Sisi call PM; Misri briefs envoys Ab aatankiyon ki bachi kuchi zameen ko bhi mitti mein milane ka samay aa gaya hai PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI, ON HAVENS OF TERRORISTS MADHUBANI, NEW DELHI, APRIL 24 PROMISING RETRIBUTION for the Pahalgam terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent Pakistan a tough message Thursday when he said “India will identify, track and punish everyterroristandtheirbackers” and would “pursue them to the ends of the earth”. Addressing a rally in Madhubani in Bihar a day after his government announced a slewofmeasuresagainstPakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam killings, the Prime Minister said, “Ab aatankiyon ki bachi kuchi zameen ko bhi mitti mein milane ka J&K TERROR ATTACK ATTARI BORDER CLOSURE TO HIT `3,800-CRORE INDIA-PAK TRADE INDIA SCALES DOWN BEATING RETREAT CEREMONIES AT BORDER POINTS PAGE 5 EXPLAINED SECURITY INFILTRATION, THE KEY PROBLEM PAGE 12 samay aa gaya hai (the time has come to raze whatever is left of the haven of terrorists).” And switching to English which he rarely does in the middle of a public speech, Modi, addressing the international community, said, “Today, from the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism.” “Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY havestoodwithusinthistime… The punishment will be significant and stringent, which these terroristswouldhavenevereven thought about.” Warning the attackers and those who hatched the conspiracy, he said, “Mein bahut spasht shabdonmeinkehnachahtahoon. Jinhone ye hamla kiya hai un aatankiyon ko aur is hamle ki saazish rachne waalon ko unki kalpana se bhi badee saza milegi. Sazaa mil kar ke rahegi. Ab aatankiyon ki bachi kuchi zameen kobhimittimeinmilanekasamay aa gaya hai. 140 karor Bharatiyon ki ichhashakti ab aatank ke aakaaonkikamartodkarrahegi(I want to say something very clearly. Those who carried out this terror attack and those who hatched the conspiracy will get a punishment beyond their imagination. They shall be punished. Now, the time has come to raze whatever is left of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Opp backs Govt on steps against terror, questions Pahalgam security ‘lapse’ MANOJ C G & LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, APRIL 24 A DAY after India announced a raftof measuresagainstPakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, leaders across party linespledgedunconditionalsupport to the government in whatever actions it may take against the perpetrators of the attack and their handlers. At the same time, several Opposition leaders questioned the government, saying the attack pointed to “lapses” in security and intelligence. At an all-party meeting Thursday, the government shared its assessment of the emerging situation with leaders of political parties to forge a broaddomesticpoliticalconsensus on the matter. Several Opposition leaders flagged the issue of “lapses” in security and intelligence and questionedthegovernmentover NEW DELHI, APRIL 24 RESPONDING to the Pahalgam terrorattack,adayafteritputthe Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on hold, downgraded diplomatic ties and shut the Attari-Wagah border, India ratcheted up the pressure on Pakistan. India formally informed Pakistan that New Delhi has decided the IWT be held in abeyancewithimmediateeffect. It also decided to cancel all existingvisastoPaknationalswitheffect from April 27 and suspend visa services for them. This move, a day after cancelling visas under a special SAARC scheme, will impact Pak nationals who come to India for medical treatment and those who visit their pre-Partition divided families. Additionally, New Delhi advised its nationals to avoid travelling to Pakistan and asked those still there to return. OnWednesday,Indiahadalso expelled diplomats and top defence officials from the Pakistan High Commission effectively halving the mission strength. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Barriers at the Attari Integrated Check Post on Thursday, a day after India announced its closure. Rana Simranjit Singh Managing escalation Pahalgam attackers: Two Lashkar in Delhi: Uncharted men from Pak, Valley accomplice Pak suspends Shimla waters, a new compass pact, closes airspace to Indian carriers C Raja Mohan NEW DELHI, APRIL 24 IN MANY a Kashmir crisis, a frequent invocation has been: “aar ya paar” — or thedecisivefinalbattle— betweenthetwonations. Yet, each time, India and Pakistan have walked back from the brink. After the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam Tuesday, the old ghosts hardly buried, new ones are conjuring. All Indian Prime Ministers, in the last four decades, have been frequently tested by a military crisis with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced more than one. But the current crisis could be far more demanding. To be sure, Delhi’s overall national power has grown in relation to Islamabad — India’s GDP at $4 trillion, for example, is 10 times larger than Pakistan’s. Delhi’s global diplomatic influence now overshadows Islamabad’s — many tra● ditional friends of Pakistan are now neutral if not tilted towards India. Pakistan is more internally divided than ever and its western borders E EXPLAINED HIMANSHU HARSH & VIKAS PATHAK (Left) Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting in Madhubani, Bihar, Thursday; Pahalgam terror attack victim Shubham Dwivedi’s wife (blue shirt) and sister grieve as his body arrives at his Kanpur residence. ANI, PTI SHUBHAJIT ROY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BASHAARAT MASOOD & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL SRINAGAR, NEW DELHI, APRIL 24 TWO PAKISTANI nationals who infiltrated in the last year and a half, and a South Kashmir resident who acted as their local guide, feature in the sketches released by Jammu and Kashmir policeof thePahalgamattackers. Police have identified the three as Hashim Musa and Ali Bhai alias Talha from Pakistan, and Valley local Adil Hussain Thoker. According to police records, Musa and Ali have been active in the Kashmir Valley for almost two years now. While Musa is believed to have infiltrated in September 2023, his area of operation was mainly the Budgam Any move to divert Indus water will be an act of war, says Islamabad SHUBHAJIT ROY (From left) Sketches of Pakistan nationals and LeT terrorists Hashim Musa, Ali Bhai and J&K’s Adil Hussain Thoker put out by J&K Police. They are wanted for the Pahalgam attack. district,whichfallsinthevicinity of Srinagar city, highly placed sources told The Indian Express. Records also suggest that Ali arrived in the Valley after Musa and was active in the Dachigam forests on the outskirts of Srinagar city. The Dachigam National Park connects to Tral and then to Pahalgam through dense mountainous forests. Thoker, police records indicate, went to Pakistan in 2018 and returned to the Valley last year. A resident of Gurre village CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, APRIL 24 A DAY after India announced a slew of measures against it, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan said Thursday it “shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India including but not limited to Simla Agreement in abeyance”. It also closed its airspace to all Indian airlines. The Simla Agreement was signedinJuly1972followingthe defeat of Pakistan by Indian armedforcesinthe1971warthat ledtothecreationof Bangladesh. The pact also led to the creation of the Line of Control. The agreementwasthatthetwocountries would“settletheirdifferencesby peacefulmeansthroughbilateral negotiations”,butthepactfailed to prevent ties from heading south and Pakistan’s most seriousviolationof theLoCledtothe Kargil war in 1999. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 She held on to father’s body, until her children’s cries shook her to action PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 24 THE DAUGHTER of N Ramachandran, who was among the 26 victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, told The Indian Express that as she lay numb, holding on to her father’s body, it was a panicked cry from herchildrenthatmadehermove away from the terrorists. Ramachandran’s body was flown to Kochi on Wednesday night and will be cremated on Friday. He, along with his wife Sheela, daughter Arathi and two grandchildren, had reached Kashmir on Monday for a short vacation. Arathi said they first heard a distant gunshot when scores of tourists were lounging in the area. “Then I heard the same sound again, and saw a person firing in the air a little distance away. I realised it was a terror attack. I asked my father and children to lie down on the floor. My mother was sitting in the car downhill. We started to run away from the fenced area and (Top) Pahalgam attack victim N Ramachandran’s daughter Arathi; (right) MoS Suresh Gopi pays tribute to Ramachandran in Kochi. PTI foundpeoplescrambling.Aguntoting man emerged and shouted at people to lie down. He came near us and said some- thing like a kalima (a declaration of faith).Withinseconds,theterrorist gunned down my father. While I was holding on to his body, the terrorist hit my head with his gun,’’ she said. Arathisaidthatwhileshewas crying near her bleeding father, herchildren,bothminors,yelled out,askinghertomove.“Itwasa wake-upcall.Ifoundoutthatmy father died and I was unable to savehim.Thenitwasthemother inside me that guided me. Along with the children, I ran through the woods,” she said. SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress, she pondered over what would havehappenedifherchildrenhad not called out to her. “Maybe, I would have continued to sit crying near my father’s body…” She recalled running through themarshyterrainofthepineforest with her children until they reached the main road. On the way, she decided she was not go- ingtotellhermother,whowassitting in the car on the road, about her father’s death. “Instead of going to the car, I askedMusafir,ourlocaldriver,to come to us around 200 metres away from the car,” Arathi said. After telling Musafir that she didn’t want her mother to know what happened, he called a friend,Sameer,andbothof them arranged a room for the mother at a resort. “My mother had heard gunshots while sitting in the car. I told her that father had sustainedabulletinjuryandwas unconscious… At the resort where mother got a room, Musafir told the staff to discon- nect the TV and ensure that she doesnotcometoknowaboutfather’s death,” Arathi said. Shesaidthelocalshelpedthe survivors a lot and referred to Musafir and Sameer as brothers. “While Musafir helped me go around, meet local officials and identify my father’s body at the mortuary, Sameer looked after my mother and ensured that she wastakencareof,”Arathisaid.“At SrinagarairportonWednesday,I told them, ‘you are my brothers’. May Allah bless you.” The Chief Minister’s Office said575touristsfromKeralawere in Kashmir and that the state is taking steps to assist them. Kolkata