In the wake of a brutal terrorist attack that rocked Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed a fierce crackdown, promising that those responsible “will face the harshest response imaginable.”
Speaking from the heart during his Mann Ki Baat radio address on Sunday, Modi mourned the loss of 26 tourists who were gunned down in a brazen assault on April 22 at a popular picnic destination in Pahalgam. His voice heavy with emotion, Modi called the massacre a tragedy that has left every Indian seething with anger and grief, regardless of their background or language.
“Today, as I open my heart to you, it’s filled with deep agony,” he said, stressing that justice would not only be served but would be relentless. In a rare moment, switching to English, Modi declared that India would hunt down and punish every terrorist and their enablers “to the end of the earth.”
It’s the second time in recent days Modi has hammered home this point. At a political rally in Bihar earlier, he had already promised to deliver swift and severe retribution to the attackers.
The timing of the assault, Modi noted, couldn’t have been more sinister. Just as peace, democracy, and economic revival were beginning to take hold in the long-troubled Kashmir Valley, extremists struck with the clear aim of dragging the region back into chaos. Once a flashpoint for conflict between India and Pakistan, Kashmir had enjoyed a period of relative calm recently, with booming tourism breathing new life into the local economy.
Modi assured the grieving families that India would not rest until the perpetrators are brought to book, adding, “The entire world stands shoulder to shoulder with 1.4 billion Indians in this fight against terror.”
In a fiery follow-up to his speech, New Delhi pointed the finger squarely at Islamabad, accusing Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism — a charge that’s been a staple of India’s grievances at global platforms. In swift retaliation, India suspended the critical Indus Waters Treaty, expelled Pakistani diplomats, closed the land border, and froze the issuance of visas for Pakistani nationals, effectively giving them a few days to leave the country.
Security analysts are buzzing with speculation that military options could also be on the table.
Pakistan, for its part, has flatly denied any involvement, launching tit-for-tat countermeasures and warning India that any move to block rivers would be treated as “an act of war.” The Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the life-sustaining rivers shared by both nations, had never before been suspended — not even during full-scale wars — making India’s decision a historic and ominous shift.
As tensions mount, one thing is clear: Modi isn’t backing down, and the region may be bracing for another storm.
