Pahalgam LIVE: 500 Pakistanis leave India; demolitions continue in Kashmir
Modi says attack reflects desperation and cowardice of terrorists and their mentors at a time when peace was returning to Kashmir
Pakistan wants the involvement of Russia and China in investigating the Pahalgam terror attack, according to a media report.
In a recent interview to Russian government-run RIA Novosti news agency, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said, “I think Russia or China or even Western countries can play a very, very positive role in this crisis and they can even set up an investigation team that should be assigned this job to investigate whether India or Modi is lying or he is telling the truth. Let an international team find out.”
‘When peace was returning…’
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (April 27) reiterated his warning to the perpetrators and plotters of the terror attack in which terrorists snuffed out 26 innocent lives. He said those behind the attack will be served the most stringent punishment.
In his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address, Modi said the solidarity of Indians in the war against terrorism is the country’s biggest strength.
He said the incident reflected the desperation and cowardice of terrorists and their mentors at a time when peace was returning to Kashmir, tourism was seeing a record surge, democracy was turning stronger and new opportunities were being created for the youth.
“Enemies of the country and Kashmir did not like it,” he said, adding that they wanted the Valley to be destroyed again.
“In the war against terrorism, the unity of the country, the solidarity of 140 crore Indians, is our biggest strength. The world is watching that India is speaking in one voice against the attack,” he said, stressing that this unity is the biggest basis of the decisive battle against terrorism.
NIA takes over probe
The Centre on Sunday handed over the probe into the terror attack to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Eyewitnesses are being questioned in minute detail to piece together the sequence of events that led to one of the worst terror attacks in Kashmir, they said.
The entry and exit points are being closely scrutinised by the investigating NIA teams for clues to the modus operandi of the terrorists, the officials said.
The teams, aided by forensic and other experts, are checking the entire area thoroughly for evidence to expose the terror conspiracy that led to the horrendous attack that has shocked the nation, they said.
Unprovoked firing by Pak
Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing, violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir for the third time in a row on the intervening night of April 26 and 27. The Indian Army “responded effectively” to the firing, officials said on Sunday.
The Indian Army said its troops “responded effectively with appropriate small arms fire”.
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Live Updates
- 27 April 2025 11:00 AM GMT
272 Pak nationals left through Attari in past 2 days, more to leave today
Around 272 Pakistani nationals have left India in the past two days through the Attari-Wagah border point, and a few hundred more are expected to exit on Sunday when the deadline for the 12 categories of short-term visa holders of the neighbouring nation ends, news agency PTI has reported quoting an official in the know.
As many as 629 Indians, including 13 diplomats and officials, have returned from Pakistan through the international border crossing located in Punjab.
The deadline for exiting India for those holding SAARC visas was April 26. For those carrying medical visas, the deadline is April 29.
The 12 categories of visas whose holders have to leave India by Sunday are visa on arrival, business, film, journalist, transit, conference, mountaineering, student, visitor, group tourist, pilgrim and group pilgrim.
However, those having long-term and diplomatic or official visas were exempted from the ‘Leave-India’ order.
According to officials, 191 Pakistani nationals left India through the Attari-Wagah border on April 25 and 81 more exited on April 26.
As many as 287 Indians crossed into India from Pakistan on April 25, and altogether 342 Indians, including 13 diplomats and officials, returned from Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border on April 26, officials said.
Some of the Pakistanis might have left India through airports too, they said, pointing out that since India does not have direct air connectivity with Pakistan, they might have left for other countries.
Officials said the largest number of Pakistanis with short-term visas were staying in Maharashtra. Their number was pegged at around 1,000, they said. Around 5,050 Pakistani citizens have been living in Maharashtra and most of them are on long-term visas.
Interestingly, 107 Pakistani nationals, who were staying in Maharashtra were, untraceable, according to officials. There were Pakistani nationals staying in Telangana, mostly Hyderabad, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, and Gujarat too.
- 27 April 2025 10:04 AM GMT
Terrorists wanted to spark riots; people must stay united: Bhujbal
NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal has said people must stay united and not fall into the trap of the terrorists who carried out the horrific Pahalgam attack as their aim was to orchestrate communal riots.
“The campaign of Hindu versus Muslim must stop. If we have to fight the terrorists then we must be united. Muslims all over the country, including Kashmir, have condemned the killing and taken out protest marches. A Muslim also fell to terrorists’ bullets in Pahalgam,” Bhujbal said.
“The objective of the killing was to create communal discord and fan riots. People should not fall into the trap of the terrorists,” he asserted.
His comments come in the backdrop of Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane’s statement that Hindus must ask the religion of shopkeepers before making purchases.
Eyewitnesses to the Pahalgam attack have said the terrorists singled out Hindus by asking the tourists to recite the ‘kalma’, the Islamic declaration of faith.
- 27 April 2025 9:21 AM GMT
Exit deadline ends today; Pak citizens rush home through Attari
The exit deadline for Pakistani nationals visiting India on SAARC visas ended Today (April 26), while for the rest, except those on medical visas, it is set to close on Sunday, April 27 amid escalating tensions between the two countries over the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals are valid till April 29.
At the Attari border in Amritsar district, vehicles queued up as Pakistani nationals rushed to cross over to their country. Many Indians came to see off their Pakistani relatives at Attari and the pain of separation was palpable.
“My mother’s an Indian and she is not being allowed to accompany us to Pakistan,” bawled the teenaged Sarita, not knowing when she could see her in person. She, her brother and father were among the hundreds queued up at the Attari border point to exit India on Sunday as the clock ticked.
Sarita’s family had come to India for a relative’s wedding set for April 29. “We came to India after nine years.” She, her brother and her father are Pakistanis while her mother is an Indian. “They (the authorities at Attari) are telling us they will not allow my mother to go along. My parents got married in 1991. They are saying Indian passport holders will not be allowed,” she said, crying bitterly.
Most of the Pakistani nationals told news agency PTI that they had come to meet their kin in India. Some were here to attend weddings but now have to rush home without participating.
A man from Jaisalmer said his maternal uncle, aunt and their children were visiting them after 36 years but had to rush back ahead of the deadline.
“They came from Pakistan’s Amarkot on April 15 with a 45-day visa. No one knew the situation would turn out to be like this. They did not get time to meet all their relatives,” he said.
India has warned that those who fail to exit the country after the deadline passes will face legal action under the newly enacted Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.
Mohd Arif from Delhi had come to drop off his aunt at Attari. Strongly condemning the Pahalgam terror attack, he said the terrorists “murdered humanity and should be publicly hanged”.
Another Pakistani national Mohd Salim from Karachi had come on a 45-day visa but had to rush back home like his fellow citizens due to the unexpected gruesome developments.
Gurbax Singh from Pakistan’s Buner in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan came to India on April 15.
“Half of my extended family, including my cousins, live in India. What happened in Pahalgam is utterly reprehensible. They (terrorists) murdered humanity, but look who has to bear the brunt. There were many Pakistanis who were visiting India for medical treatment, but now all have to rush back,” he said.
