New Delhi, May 8 Ahead of the all-party meeting here on Thursday, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him on the current situation on the Western border and developments after Operation Sindoor. As per sources, the meeting continued for almost an hour at the PM's residence. After the meeting with the NSA, the Union Home Secretary also met the Prime Minister.
The briefing comes as 13 civilians died in Jammu and Kashmir in heavy shelling by Pakistan. As per the government, these are the civilian casualties in ceasefire violations along the LoC by Pakistan, and all are in Poonch. The number of injured has risen to 59. Of these, 44 are in Poonch. There is a heightened vigilance on the western borders of the country, which have been sealed in Rajasthan and other states. Leaves of government staff have been cancelled, and schools and other educational institutions have been shut for the day. Airspace in several western cities has been closed till May 10.
The security and defence systems are in high activity mode. Multi-layered air defence network has been fully activated, several frontline warships are deployed in the Arabian Sea and infantry units along the frontier are fully prepared to deal with any situation. The Centre has convened an all-party meeting to brief the parties on the strategic strikes -- a tri-service military action targeting nine high-value terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). At the all-party meeting, which began at 11 a.m., the Centre briefed political leaders on the military strikes on targets, about the objectives of the operation, the strategic and security impact, and India's preparedness in the event of any retaliatory actions from Pakistan.
The government will also brief the opposition leaders on the current situation at the borders and India’s preparedness to meet any eventualities. The precision strikes were launched in the early hours of Wednesday and lasted just 25 minutes. Between 1.05 a.m. and 1.30 a.m., 24 missiles were deployed to strike nine terrorist facilities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba's headquarters in Muridke and major terror training sites in Bahawalpur -- long considered breeding grounds for extremist operations.
India emphasised that the action was not escalatory but a calculated and proportionate response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 civilians, including a Nepali national, were killed. "Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution," the government said in a statement.
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