As it happened: 'We will tell India what a real surgical strike is,' says 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed

Army Chief Dalbir Singh compliments Northern Command

Army Chief Dalbir Singh complimented all ranks of Udhampur-based Northern Command for successfully conducting the “surgical strike” on terrorist launchpads across the LoC in which “significant casualties” were inflicted on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK.

Sources said the army was ready to deal with any possible attack from Pakistani side in response to the “clinical strike” carried out by para commandos of the army. – PTI

Rajnath Singh meets the family of soldier who crossed over to other side of LoC

Rajnath Singh assures the family that they will bring the soldier who crossed over to the other side of the LoC back.

New dates for the Saarc summit to be to be announced soon

A new set of dates for holding of the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad will be announced soon: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Russia expresses its concern

JuD chief Saeed warns India

Saaed warned India of a “befitting response” for its military operation in PoK, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now know what is meant by “surgical strikes”.

“We will tell you what is a real surgical strike…and you will get the deserved response soon,” he said. – PTI

High alert sounded along Indo-Nepal border

MHA issues advisory to all states

Another terrorist attack on police, CRPF in Kulgam

Modi has become a prisoner of his own image, according to Dawn

“Perhaps more than just aimed at Pakistan, the aggressive tone of the Modi government is intended for domestic consumption. India knows that it cannot entirely isolate Pakistan from global affairs, for Pakistan’s geostrategic location is too important for the country to be left alone by the world.

In the aftermath of attacks such as Uri, it has to assuage its constituency that it will take tougher measures against Pakistan than the previous Congress government, whom it blames for being too soft on Islamabad.

With crucial regional elections also coming up next year, the ruling party cannot to be seen as being unresponsive to the alleged Pakistani interference in Kashmir. In that sense, Modi has become a prisoner of his own image.”

Read the entire article here .

Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia visits border villages in Attari

Sri Lanka pulls out of Saarc summit

US Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner write to PM Modi

Hillary Clinton fears emergence of nuclear suicide bombers from Pakistan

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over the possibility of emergence of nuclear suicide bombers from Pakistan if jihadists get access to the country’s atomic weapons, a media report has said.

“We live in fear that they’re going to have a coup, that jihadists are going to take over the government, they’re going to get access to nuclear weapons, and you’ll have suicide nuclear bombers. So, this could not be a more threatening scenario,” the The New York Times said, quoting Clinton as saying in an audio being hacked from Democratic Party’s computers. – PTI

Sri Lanka’s minister of foreign affairs condemns terrorism

Chief Justice of Pakistan cancels India visit

Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali has cancelled his visit to India next month, citing “present conditions”, media reports said on Friday. Jamali has refused to attend the global conference slated to be held in India from 21-23 October, Radio Pakistan reported. – PTI

Villagers forced to flee put up a brave face

Having left their crops and cattle behind, villagers living close to the international border have put up a brave face and hailed Indian Army’s surgical strikes in PoK, praising the Modi government for giving a stern reply to Pakistan.

As they vacated their houses, the villagers remained cheerful and raised patriotic slogans in several border areas including Fazilka, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. – PTI

Salman Khan’s reaction on surgical strikes:

Army was possibly aided by high resolution images provided by Isro

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The Times of India quoted some Isro sources as saying, “We’ve been providing images to the armed forces, the army in particular. While I cannot comment if any specific image was sent on a particular day in the previous week, I can say that Cartosat images are meant for this purpose and the army has used this.”

China asks India and Pakistan to exercise restraint

Expressing concern over the “continuous confrontation and tensions” between India and Pakistan, China on Friday called on both parties to exercise restraint and refrain from escalation of tensions.

“As a shared neighbour and friend to both India and Pakistan we are concerned about continuous confrontation and tensions between India and Pakistan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Sheung told media briefing. – PTI

Surgical strikes Modi’s first action worthy of stature as PM: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday lauded Narendra Modi for the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across LoC, saying it was his “first action” befitting of a Prime Minister in two-and-a-half years.

“When the Prime Minister acts as the prime minister of the country then I too support him…I want to thank him that in the past two-and-a-half years, this is the first action which can be termed as befitting of the prime minister,” he said.  – PTI

Uddhav Thackeray calls PM Modi to congratulate

Maharashta CM Devendra Fadnavis briefs Rajnath Singh

Villagers being evacuated in Firozpur

One soldier received minor injury: Army sources

NDTV quotes some army sources as saying that only one soldier received minor injury during exfiltration.

Pakistan will continue to support Kashmiri brothers: Sharif at cabinet meet

Pakistan’s cabinet met on Friday to review the situation on the Line of Control (LoC) in the wake of surgical strikes by the Indian Army. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired the meeting, which is expected to put across the collective response of the nation to the challenge thrown by the latest events, Radio Pakistan reported.

Sharif said, “We will continue to support our Kashmiri brothers with the full force of diplomacy and moral support.” The prime minister reportedly has give full authority to the Pakistan armed forces to respond to Indian provocation at the Line of Control. 

In their remarks before the meeting, the cabinet members reiterated resolve of the government to defend the nation at all costs. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said support to the struggle of the Kashmiri people would remain Pakistan’s main priority. He said India was “indulging in diversionary tactics in a bid to deflect attention of the international community from its brutalities against Kashmiris.”

Watch: Rahul Gandhi thanks Narendra Modi

Afghanistan says surgical strikes act of self defence

We hope no one will allow safe havens for terrorists to be used against neighbours, Afghanistan envoy tells India’s Shaida Abdali. The envoy added, “Surgical strikes by India in PoK an act of self defence.”

Rahul Gandhi reacts almost 24 hour after the Army did a presser on surgical strikes

Surgical strikes have united the country

Ironically, not peace initiatives but covert military offensive have the power to unite the country. Over the past few years, India has seen strife of huge proportions. A variety of non-issues posed threats to Indian polity and society. Writing for Firstpost, Shantanu Mukharji lauds the joint work done by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Armed forces. In this piece, Mukharji writes: 

The surgical strikes of 29 September have ensured the entire country stands united today. The last time the nation witnessed such unity was in 1971 when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi broke the news of Bangladesh’s freedom to the Parliament. 

With a united India powered by a unanimous political voice, the country now needs to consolidate its dividends by not becoming complacent or over-euphoric. Pakistan, in all likelihood, will attempt military revenge.

Pakistan misunderstood Modi and thats what the surgical strikes prove

The astute politician that he is, Modi is acutely conscious of the fact that the war hysteria in India must be contained to check the divisiveness on Hindu-Muslim fault line. Senior editor of Firstpost Ajay Singh in this piece notes: “That is the precise reason that he selectively used his silence and eloquence, both, as strategic assets. And this is not the first time Modi did it. There is a discernible pattern.”

His silence after the India’s surgical strikes inside Pakistan is indicative of his focused approach to the task at hand. Those who met him or spoke to him over the past three days admit that Modi did not let anyone know about his steely resolve to carry out the operations. Not even once did he lend credence to the notion of warmongering. 

His speeches at Kozhikode were measured and calculated to address the domestic and international audience.

Pakistan briefs UN on surgical strikes

Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations spoke the UN chief and raised the issue of surgical strikes, India Today reports.  According to the channel, Lodhi briefed the UN Security Council on the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army.

Surgical strikes were act of self-defence

Top US defence experts have sided with India and said that Wednesday’s surgical strikes conducted by India were carried out in self-defence and would receive support from the US but risk further escalation of tensions. “India can rightly note that the United States has conducted numerous unilateral counter terrorist operations inside Pakistan against targets like Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mansour. India can cite its right to self-defence,” said Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institute.

“The Indian operation ups the stakes. The situation is dangerous and escalating,” Riedel, a former CIA analyst who was stationed at the White House during the time of Kargil war and played a key role in US policies then, told PTI.

“The question is will this escalates further? With or without outside assistance, the Kashmiri situation will get worse for India unless (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi addresses the legitimate demands of Kashmiri Muslims,” Riedel said.

New dynamic emerges between Pakistan and India

There’s a broad consensus after Thursday’s strikes that the dynamics between India and Pakistan are definitely changing. India shed the posturing of strategic restraint and called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff. 

“The primary task for planners in New Delhi will now be to assess and exploit this new-found space for extremely limited military action in meeting Pakistan’s penchant for proxy warfare.”

Abhijnan Rej in this Firstpost article writes: "…the new dynamic would be an oscillatory pattern involving the sub-conventional and the uncoventional (covert special operations support for proxies) or the semi-conventional (overt special operations alone) rungs. There is no escalation ladder for both countries to climb, New Delhi and Rawalpindi would quickly realise, if they haven’t already. Instead, they will chase each other’s tails — which works in New Delhi’s calculations."

Kashmir’s unfinished agenda of Partition: Nawaz Sharif

In a fresh rhetoric, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Kashmir was “unfinished agenda of partition” and Pakistan would continue to provide support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.

“Jammu and Kashmir dispute is an unfinished agenda of the partition of the sub-continent,” Sharif said.

“No power can deter us from supporting our Kashmiri brethren in their just and legitimate struggle for the exercise of their right to self-determination guaranteed to them by the UNSC relevant resolutions,” he said.