India Pakistan news LIVE: ‘It’s clear who wanted cessation of firing' says Jaishankar

On April 22, terrorists descended down the hills in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam and opened fire at innocent tourists enjoying their day in the Baisaran meadow. The terror attack, one of the deadliest since the 2019 Pulwama attack, left 26 persons dead, most of whom were tourists. 

Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarappu will be visiting Srinagar and Jammu on Thursday.

He will arrive at the Srinagar International Airport and interact with security agencies and stakeholders there. Later, he will visit Lal Chowk and review the facilities at the airport.

In the afternoon, he will visit the Jammu airport and review security arrangements there.

Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) Daljit Singh Chaudhary will visit Jammu on Thursday and take cognizance of the situation on the International Border.

Watch | Defence Minister Rajnath Singh leaves from Delhi. He will visit Jammu and Kashmir today. J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha is also accompanying him.

BJP leader CR Kesavan on Thursday slammed Congress and said that it cannot come to terms with Operation Sindoor's triumph because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong leadership.

"The Congress party cannot tolerate or come to terms with the outstanding triumph of Operation Sindoor because of the valiant, unparalleled courage of our armed forces and the titanium leadership of Narendra Modi ji," Kesavan said in a video statement.

"Everybody saw the briefing of the MEA, where the officials smashed any claims or narratives by other countries trying to take credit for mediation. MEA made it very clear that there was nothing at all like that. Did the Congress party fail to watch the MEA briefings?" he added.

An encounter between terrorists and security forces is underway in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama as well. 

Defence minister Rajnath Singh has left from his residence in Delhi. He will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir today.

According to news agency ANI, Defence minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir today, on May 15, Thursday. 

The Indian Army's Romeo Force is going door-to-door in the areas of Poonch district located near the Line of Control, which were hit heavily by Pakistani shelling.

The force is providing them medicines, ration, and also interacting with local residents.

A local resident said the force, "helped us a lot, provided us with medicines. They told us to tell them if we were facing any problems. We are thankful to them for coming to check on us...The damage (to the house) occurred on 9th May...Indian Army is fighting at the border and helping us. We are thankful to them".

As Indus Waters Treaty remains in abeyance, all the gates of the Baglihar hydroelectric power project dam in Ramban on the Chenab River are closed.

The Congress party is all set to 'Jai Hind Sabhas' across India from May 20 to 30 to salute the Armed Forces.

"Indian National Congress will hold 'Jai Hind Sabhas' across India to salute the supreme valour and success of our Armed Forces. We also must raise serious questions on security lapses, the Government's handling of national security, and its silence on the concerning involvement of the US in our national security matters," Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said on X.

"From May 20-30, Jai Hind Sabhas will be held in Delhi, Barmer, Shimla, Haldwani, Patna, Jabalpur, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru, Kochi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Pathankot, involving army veterans, party leaders, and the general public," he added.

A former Pentagon official Michael Rubin hit out at Pakistan went running to India to reach a ceasefire after the Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes against terror infrastructure and its airbases.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Rubin said, "The fact that Pakistani officers in uniform attended the funeral of terrorists shows that there is no differentiation between a terrorist and a member of the ISI or the Pakistani armed forces. Basically, the world is going to demand that Pakistan extract the rot from its own system. So, diplomatically, India changed the conversation, militarily, Pakistan is shocked."

"When Pakistan responded, India was able to blunt their response and then when Pakistan continued to try to retaliate, India was able to put their airfields out of commission. Pakistan went running to try to achieve a ceasefire like a scared dog with its tail between its legs. And the fact of the matter is there is absolutely no spin that the Pakistani military can put on what occurred to shield themselves from the full reality of the fact that they not only lost but they lost very, very badly," he added.

India and Emerging Asia Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies Chair, Richard Rossow said that Pakistan now knows that India will no longer just play the game of normal diplomatic countermeasures to deal with its 'misadventures'.

Speaking to ANI, Rossow said, "We have seen a steady escalation. The times that India suffered terror attacks, looking back to 2016, when India took the step on initiating a cross-border ground assault against terror camps in PoK. Then, in 2019, where there was an air assault on Pakistan, this was a different form of escalation... Once the escalation began, for India to begin hitting military bases was a step in a new direction... It's an important moment when I think Pakistan understands that India is not just going to play the normal game of diplomatic measures, counterattacks and the separation that Pakistan always hoped for between terror camps and military. India sees a lot less difference than what they did in times past."

Union Minister CR Patil said that with Operation Sindoor, India has shown the world its resolve to fight terrorism. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership in this fight.

"Under the leadership of PM Modi, our army has eliminated the terrorists. This message has gone to the whole world, saying that India should never be provoked because if provoked, the people of India will not spare them," Patil told ANI.

The Indian Army's Engineer Bomb Disposal Squad has been actively engaged in retrieving and defusing projectiles found in residential areas in Nowshera area of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

Schools in Jammu and other parts of the union territory reopened as the ceasefire between India and Pakistan remained intact, resulting in life in the valley returning to normalcy and people going on about their usual business. 

An FIR was registered against Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah in Indore on Wednesday night for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

In a post on X, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said instructions were given to take action against minister Shah following the orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

A police officer said an FIR has been registered at the Manpur police station. Superintendent of Police (rural) Hitika Vasal confirmed the development, news agency PTI reported. 

The FIR was registered under sections 152 (an act endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (1) (B) (an act having an adverse effect on the mutual harmony between different communities, which causes or is likely to cause a breach of public peace) and 197 (1) (C) (speaking about a member of a community, which has an adverse effect on the mutual harmony between different communities).

Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah on Wednesday issued an apology for his controversial remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

“I apologise for my recent statement, which hurt the sentiments of our society,” Shah said in a video message, according to PTI. “The work done by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, rising above religion and caste, is highly respected and appreciated. I respect her deeply.”

The minister further added that he respects the army and mentioned Colonel Sofiya as “sister”.

“Although some inappropriate words came out in my recent statement, my intentions were always clear. I apologise to everyone, and especially to my sister, Sofiya Qureshi,” the minister said.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov of the Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Assistant Secretary-General Natalia Gherman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) met with a delegation of the Indian government.

The two sides discussed ways to counter the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, a UN spokesperson told news agency ANI.

These efforts also include developing non-binding guiding principles on threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems and the use of emerging financial technologies for terrorist activities.

Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of politicising Operation Sindoor and questioned the party's alleged silence over ceasefire claims by US President Donald Trump.

"Politicisation of Operation Sindoor is wrong. We have never politicised the issues of security. We have this information that PM Modi will meet the NDA Chief Ministers on May 25. What is the mistake of the CMs of Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, HP, Punjab, J&K? What is this if not politicisation? On one hand, PM Modi is not answering serious questions, not attending all-party meetings and on the other hand, he is having meetings with NDA CMs," Jairam Ramesh said.

"For the last few days, the Congress party is asking why US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. This is happening for the first time. PM Modi does not say anything on this. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that America's role was so important that it was because of them that this war stopped. EAM Dr Jaishankar does not even answer this. We are continuously asking why PM Modi and EAM are not answering what the role of America is?" he asked.

A massive cache of arms and ammunition was recovered after the Indian Army eliminated three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian under ‘Operation Keller’ on Tuesday, May 13.

A video showed several rifles, grenades, and ammunition, along with backpacks and wallets belonging to the slain terrorists, being recovered.

Two AK series rifles, a large quantity of ammunition, grenades, and other war-like stores recovered from the terrorists' possession.

After the killing of three terrorists in Keller forest of Shopian on Tuesday, the army on Wednesday said all local three terrorists were involved in recent terror incidents in Kashmir and said the operation was launched on the specific intelligence inputs.

On Tuesday the army claimed to have killed three local terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and it’s shadow outfit The Resistance Front (TRF).

The terrorists were identified by police as Shahid Kuttay, Adnan Shafi Dar and Ehsan ul Haq Sheikh of Shopian.

An encounter between security forces and terrorists is underway in Awantipora district's Tral and Nader areas, the Jammu and Kashmir police said.

Police officials said there is a possibility of two terrorists in the area.

The fresh encounter comes just two days after three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were killed in an encounter in Shopian.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) jammed Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence (AD) systems to launch a series of precision strikes on terror and military targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) between May 7 and 10 as part of Operation Sindoor, the government said on Wednesday.

The revelation about the air force crippling Pakistan’s air defences came hours after the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met to review the security dynamics on the western border following the May 10 understanding that ended four days of fierce fighting with the neighbouring country.

“IAF bypassed and jammed Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied AD systems, completing the mission in just 23 minutes and demonstrating India’s technological edge,” the Centre said.

Indian officials briefed the monitoring team of the UN Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee on the activities of The Resistance Front (TRF), the group behind the Pahalgam terror attack, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

An Indian technical team is visiting New York to interact with the monitoring team of the 1267 Sanctions Committee and other partner countries in the United Nations, the people said on condition of anonymity.

The team will also meet representatives of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the people said. The team’s visit is part of efforts by India to get the TRF designated as a global terrorist group.