Sawt Falasteen - India PM vows to pursue Kashmir attackers to 'ends of the Earth'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue and punish the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, accusing Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism".

"I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer," Modi said in his first speech since the attack in the Himalayan region. "We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth".

Indian police in the region have identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani.

The attack at Pahalgam in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir was the deadliest for a quarter of a century and marked a dramatic shift with the targeting of civilians, rather than Indian security forces.

New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties and withdrew visas for Pakistanis on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a rare meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) with top military officials, including powerful Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, in the capital Islamabad in response to India's accusations and measures.

"Any threat to Pakistan's sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains," a statement released by Sharif's office said after the NSC meeting.

"In the absence of any credible investigation and verifiable evidence, attempts to link the Pahalgam attack with Pakistan are frivolous, devoid of rationality and defeat logic," it said.

- 'Leave immediately' -

The slew of tit-for-tat measures announced by the Pakistan government include expelling Indian diplomats and cancelling visas for Indian nationals with the exception of Sikh pilgrims.

Islamabad said Indian military advisers were "persona non grata" and were "directed to leave Pakistan immediately".

The main Wagah border crossing in Punjab will close on both sides.

Pakistan also warned that it would consider any attempt by India to stop the supply of water from the Indus River an "act of war".

Indian police say the three gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organisation.

Police have offered a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man's arrest.

While the measures taken so far are largely symbolic, some fear New Delhi's diplomatic moves may just be an opening salvo -- with the potential risk of military action between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan.

At the Attari-Wagah frontier, Pakistani citizens had already started to leave.

"We just want to go home," said an exhausted-looking Mehnaz Begum, a Pakistani businessman from Karachi, as he left India.

- 'Break the backbone' -

Modi led two minutes of silence in memory of those killed, all but one of whom was Indian.

"I say this unequivocally: whoever has carried out this attack, and the ones who devised it, will be made to pay beyond their imagination", Modi said, speaking in Hindi during a visit in Bihar state.

"Whatever little land these terrorists have, it's time to reduce it to dust. The willpower of 1.4 billion Indians will break the backbone of these terrorists."

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the high-altitude territory in full but governing separate portions of it.

Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Indian security forces have launched a vast manhunt for the attackers, with large numbers of people detained in the operation.

A soldier was killed on Thursday in clashes with gunmen at Basantgarh in Kashmir, the Indian army said.

- 'Heartbroken and shocked' -

Kashmir's main city of Srinagar appeared calm on Thursday, with residents expressing shock at the attack, which has hit the region's key tourist industry hard, and fear of what is to come.

"Everyone I have spoken to is heartbroken and shocked," said Siddhi Wahid, a Kashmiri historian and political commentator.

Tuesday's assault occurred as tourists enjoyed tranquil mountain views at the popular site at Pahalgam, when gunmen burst out of forests and raked crowds with automatic weapons.

Survivors told Indian media the gunmen targeted men and spared those who could give the Islamic declaration of faith.

In Pakistan, activists and members of religious parties staged an anti-India protest on Thursday.

The attack has enraged Hindu nationalist groups, and students from Kashmir at institutions across India have reported experiencing harassment and intimidation.

"It is a deliberate and targeted campaign of hate and vilification against students from a particular region and identity," Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami said.

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I.Yassin--SF-PST