Hours after a key CCS meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened the meeting of the National Security Committee on Thursday morning (April 24, 2025). In a post on X, the Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister of Pakistan posted on X about the meeting on Thursday.
“Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif @CMShehbaz has convened the meeting of the National Security Committee on Thursday morning 24th April 2025 to respond to the Indian Government’s statement of this evening,” Dar posted on X.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif @CMShehbaz has convened the meeting of the National Security Committee on Thursday morning 24th April 2025 to respond to the Indian Government’s statement of this evening.
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) April 23, 2025
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a key meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to take stock of the situation and deliberate on the government’s strategy. Besides the prime minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar were present at the meeting, along with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and senior bureaucrats.
During the meeting that lasted over two-and-a-half hours, Shah briefed the prime minister on the attack and discussed the measures to be taken in its aftermath. The meeting that started around 6 PM and ended at around 8.30 PM was held at the prime minister’s 7, Lok Nayak Marg residence. Among those also present at the meeting were Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misry, besides the prime minister’s two principal secretaries, P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das. The centre has decided to hold the 1950 Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in abeyance until further notice in the wake of the Pahalgam Terror Attack.
The CCS meeting has also decided to suspend all visa exemptions under the SAARC visa exemptions. Foreign Secretary Vikram Sethi detailed the CCS decisions in a press briefing after the CCS meeting. In another big decision by the centre, the strength of both the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from 55 by May 1. On April 22, terrorists unleashed violence in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadows on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people — most of them tourists — and injuring more than 20. The attack, which unfolded in the picturesque Anantnag district, marks the deadliest assault on civilians in the region since the 2019 Pulwama tragedy.
