Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday expressed solidarity with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the wake of the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 45 CRPF personnel.
The international community led by the US strongly denounced the Thursday strike by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) during which an operative of the group crashed a car bomb into a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway. US President Donald Trump asked Pakistan to “end immediately” the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil and said that the attack strengthened “our resolve to bolster counter-terrorism cooperation and coordination between the US and India.” It was the worst ever strike on security forces on any single day since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. IANS

Pakistan on Friday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest against India’s allegation of its role in the brutal Pulwama terrorist attack.

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday that left 40 CRPF soldiers dead and five critically wounded.

The summoning of the Indian diplomat comes after India summoned Pakistan HC to India Sohail Mahmood and issued a very strong demarche over the killing of the CRPF soldiers.

Pakistan must take “immediate and verifiable action” against the JeM and that it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the envoy.

Though the Foreign Office has not issued any statement, sources said the FO summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and rejected “baseless allegations made by India” against Pakistan on the Pulwama attack.
A short video clip of the Indian diplomat leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also circulating in the social media.
Following the Pulwama terror attack, India Friday withdrew the ‘most-favoured nation’ status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.
In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.
India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.
According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s information minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that Pakistan would take action against anyone if India share evidence.
The Indian Express

Even as it condemned Thursday’s militant attack on the CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, China on Friday flatly refused to back India’s request to list militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global militant by the United Nations.

“We are deeply shocked by this attack. We offer our condolences and sympathies to the injured and families of the bereaved. We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all form of militancy,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

“We hope all relevant regional countries will cooperate to deal with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold the regional peace and stability,” he said.

However, when asked to comment if China will rethink its decision on Masood Azhar this year, Geng said, “As to the issue of the listing, I can tell you that 1267 committee of the Security Council has clear stipulations on the listing and the procedure of militant organization and individuals and the JeM which has taken the responsibility of the attack has been included on the Security Council counter-militant list.”

“As to the listing of the individual, we have always dealt with the issue in an earnest, professional and responsible manner,” he added.

China, however, condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 44 CRPF troopers dead, saying it was deeply shocked over the incident and firmly opposed to terrorism.

The JeM – a Pakistan-based outfit – had claimed responsibility for the attack in Pulwama district.

It was one of the worst attacks on the security forces ever since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir way back in 1989.

Sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the ‘most-favoured nation’ status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighboring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighboring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favored trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods. 

Agencies