India withdraws favoured status for Pakistan

New Delhi: A day after the worst terror attack on Indian security forces, in which 44 soldiers were killed in Kashmir’s Pulwama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government had decided to give free rein to the army to deal with terrorists and warned that those responsible for the attack would pay a “very heavy price.”

“I want to tell the terrorists and their backers that they have made a big mistake,” Modi said after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) with senior ministers. “You will have to pay a very heavy price. I assure everyone that we will bring the forces behind the attack to justice.”

He said Pakistan was trying to destabilise India by sponsoring terrorist activities in the country, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

“The neighbouring country, if it thinks it can destabilise India, it can forget it. That will never happen. We will give a fitting response to this attack,” Modi said.

On Thursday, a militant rammed buses in a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Jammu-Srinagar highway with a car carrying 350kg of explosives.

The government also decided to withdraw the “Most Favoured Nation” (MFN) privileges given to Pakistan and said it would adopt all measures to ensure Islamabad’s isolation globally.

“From today, the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan stands revoked,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed media after the CCS meeting.

What is MFN status?

The MFN status is given to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries.

Jaitley said there was “incontrovertible evidence against Pakistan in the Kashmir attack.”

The government also called the High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, to New Delhi for consultations.

“In the wake of Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad’s (JEM) ‘fedayeen’ [suicide] attack on the CRPF convoy, we want the world community to isolate Pakistan,” Jaitley said.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged the international community to support the proposal to declare JEM chief Masood Azhar a “designated terrorist” through the United Nations.

In Kashmir’s Budgam, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Governor Satya Pal Malik and the army’s Northern Command chief, Lieutenant-General Ranbir Singh, paid tributes to the slain soldiers during a wreath-laying ceremony.

“Jaish-e-Mohammad has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this,” Singh told media.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi mourned the death of the soldiers and said his Congress party would support the government on measures to deal with terrorism in Kashmir.

“I will fully support the government and jawans in this difficult time,” he said.

Meanwhile, curfew was imposed in Jammu following massive violence in which at least 20 persons were injured and dozens of vehicles torched by violent mobs protesting Thursday’s terror attack.

The curfew was imposed in the city as authorities feared a communal backlash. The Army has been called in to help maintain law and order and conduct flag marches.

Emphasising that Kashmiri people living in other states could be soft targets after the terror attack, former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked Home Minister Singh to direct all state governments to ensure their safety.

“My earnest appeal to the Home Minister is to please issue directions to all state governments to take special care in areas/colleges/institutions where Kashmiris are residing/studying,” Abdullah tweeted.