Amid tensions with India after the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan has issued a notification regarding the scheduled test of a surface-to-surface missile off its Karachi coast within its Exclusive Economic Zone, sources said.
The notification was issued by Pakistani agencies at around 2130 Hours (9:30 PM) Indian time, which is around the same time Indian leadership was holding the key Cabinet Committee on Security meeting to take steps against Pakistan for its involvement in the Pahalgam, they said.
According to the sources, the missile test will take place between April 24 to April 25 and the Indian agencies concerned are closely monitoring the developments and keeping a close watch on the situation.
The missile test was announced soon after Tuesday’s terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives.
Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba’s proxy, the Resistance Front (TRF), has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In retaliation, India on Wednesday announced a series of steps to give a strong message to Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism, stating that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance and the integrated checkpost at Attari will be closed with immediate effect.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addressed a special press conference after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and said Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa Exemption scheme.
The CCS meeting, which lasted over two hours, was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS), which met on Wednesday, was briefed in detail on the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were killed.
The CCS condemned the attack in the strongest terms and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and hoped for the early recovery of the injured.
In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. The families of victims of the Pahalgam terror attack mourned the loss of their loved ones as they urged the government to take strong action against the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
The attack, carried out by terrorists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, is one of the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. The attack was one of the biggest terror attacks in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. (ANI)
