April 25, 2025 - An all-party meeting was convened by the Central government yesterday, April 24, at the Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi, to update political leaders on the Pahalgam attack situation. The purpose of the meeting was to formulate a joint strategy against terrorism and to inform the Opposition of the government’s actions.

During the closed-door meeting, the government implicitly acknowledged that a lapse had occurred. It admitted that while everything seemed to be going well but something did go wrong and the reasons behind it are currently being investigated.

During the session, leaders from all major political parties observed a two-minute silence to pay tribute to the victims. The Opposition expressed its support to the government in the fight against terrorism. This meeting has conveyed a clear message that the entire country stands united against terrorism and all political parties are in consensus on this issue.

Opposition parties questioned the absence or performance of intelligence agencies, CRPF, and security forces in Poonch and Pahalgam during the incident.

"If nothing had gone wrong, why would we be sitting here? There have been lapses somewhere that we have to find out," a leader from the ruling party reportedly told the Opposition leaders during the meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that all political parties agreed that India must stand united in its fight against terrorism.

"All parties said that they are with the government in this fight against terrorism. All political parties have given this message and the leaders of all parties have said in one voice that whatever step the government takes, we will support it. The meeting ended on a positive note," the Minister said.

The government emphasised that India has taken strict action against terrorism in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Officials from the Intelligence Bureau and Ministry of Home Affairs explained how the attack occurred and where the lapses took place.

The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and key government figures in attendance included Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar,Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, BJP President JP Nadda, the Home Secretary, and other senior officials.

From the Opposition among those present included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Ram Gopal Yadav from Samajwadi Party, Supriya Sule from NCP-SP, Asaduddin Owaisi from AIMIM, Sanjay Singh from AAP, Sudip Bandopadhyay from TMC and Premchand Gupta from RJD.

The Defence Minister also shared the decisions made during the CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) meeting and reiterated the government’s “zero tolerance” policy towards terrorism.

"Everyone condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The Opposition has given full support to the government to take any action," Gandhi said after the meeting.

Owaisi lauded the decisions taken by the CCS towards Pakistan.

 "The central government can take action against the nation that shelters the terrorist groups. The international law also permits us to do an air and naval blockade in self-defence against Pakistan and impose sanctions on Pakistan on arms sales,” he said.

Pakistan Retaliates

Meanwhile, in response to measures imposed by India against Pakistan who it holds accountable for the Pahalgam incident, the latter, too, has announced retaliatory steps against India.

Islamabad has asked all Indian citizens, excluding Sikh pilgrims, to leave the country in 48 hours. It also announced the impending closure of the Wagah border with India, but said it will remain open until April 30.

The 1972 Simla Agreement has been suspended. This agreement was an important peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan after the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war.

Pakistan has closed its airspace to all Indian aircraft.

In other tit-for-tat steps, Pakistan has suspended visas issued to Indians under the SAARC programme, reduced the Indian High Commission staff in Islamabad to 30 and suspended all trade activities with India.

With Media Inputs