In a first, Centre to hold considerations with Opposition on Pulwama terror attack at all-party meet today; Rahul Gandhi extends support

New Delhi: The Centre has called an all-party meeting on Saturday to deliberate upon the situations arising out of the Pulwama terror attack, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Friday. In the meeting, the Narendra Modi-led government will brief the Opposition leaders about the action being taken to tackle the situations after the attack, sources said. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 11 am in the Parliament library. Modi will chair the meeting. [caption id=“attachment_6000671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] India on Friday also announced the withdrawal of most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. New Delhi had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Pakistan never reciprocated. The Central government has also stepped up diplomatic efforts to mount pressure on the Government of Pakistan to take action against those who are indulged in exporting terror to India. For long, India has sought the help of the global community in fighting against Pak-sponsored terrorism. At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying over 100-kilograms of explosives into their bus on Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Thursday at around 3.15 pm at Ladhu Modi Lethpora. The convoy consisted of 78 buses in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar. JeM, a terror outfit based in Pakistan and led by Masood Azhar, has carried out several terror attacks in India including the attack on Pathankot airbase in 2016. Masood was released by the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in exchange for hostages on board flight IC-814 in December 1999. India has approached the United Nations to list Masood as a global terrorist, but China always vetoes New Delhi’s bid in this regard. On Friday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi extended support to the Centre and said that the terror attack was an assault on India’s soul. He also said that the Congress, as well as the entire Opposition, was fully supportive of the government and the security forces. No amount of hatred or anger can do anything to the love and affection that India is built on, Rahul said at a press conference. There is going to be no other discussion from the Congress party over the next couple of days other than the fact that “our most beloved people have been killed, their families need us, and we are going to stand with them,” he asserted.