India will identify, punish every terrorist and their backers: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday declared that the killers of Pahalgam will be pursued ldquoto the ends of the earthrdquo and promised to ldquoidentify track and punish every terrorist and their backersrdquoIn his first speech after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people mostly tourists were killed the prime minister vowed to punish terrorists behind the strike and said Indiarsquos spirit will never be broken by terrorismModi spoke briefly in English and said ldquoFriends today from the soil of Bihar I say to the whole world India will identify track and punish every terrorist and their backers We will pursue them to the ends of the earth Indiarsquos spirit will never be broken by terrorism Terrorism will not go unpunishedrdquoIn the stern message he said ldquoEvery effort will be made to ensure that justice is done The entire nation is firm in this resolve Everyone who believes in humanity is with usrdquo ldquoI thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us in these timesrdquoPrime Minister Narendra ModiIn a message to Pakistan without naming the country the prime minister said he will state categorically that the terrorists who carried out the attack and those who hatched the conspiracy will be punished beyond their imaginationldquoPunishment will definitely be servedrdquo Paying condolences to the victims and their families he said citizens across the country are in mourning over the brutal manner in which terrorists killed innocent civilians The nation stands with their families he saidPakrsquos visa services revokedIndia on Thursday announced suspending visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect The Ministry of External Affairs MEA said all existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27It said medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till April 29 The MEA said all Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave the country before the expiry of visas With the suspension several Pakistani nationals visiting India started returning home through the AttariWagah land route in Amritsar on ThursdayMoreover Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption scheme SVES Any Pakistani national currently in India under the SVES visa scheme has 48 hours to leave the country said the ministryProtest outside Pak High CommissionMore than 500 people staged a protest near the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi Holding placards and raising slogans the protesters demanded decisive action against the neighbouring country accusing it of supporting terror activities in India The Delhi Police had put up barricades around 500 metres from the high commission and the protesters were stopped there an officer saidldquoEarlier the government carried out a surgical strike We demand similar action again to eradicate terrorism This was a shameful attack on innocent touristsrdquo a member of the AntiTerror Action Forum said ldquoWe trust the government has already made a planrdquo he added Another protester said the government must take strict action against PakistanAs some of the protesters tried to climb over the barricades in a bid to march towards the high commission they were stopped by police personnel and taken away Meanwhile the Delhi Police had beefed up security outside the high commission after several organisations called for a protestThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params