Pak postpones SAARC Summit after five member states pull out of conference: As it happened

Pakistan postpones SAARC Summit after five member states pull out of conference. 

A member of team that carried surgical strikes across LoC has received minor injury during exfiltration. The injury is not because of any enemy or terrorist action: Army sources

Pakistan scuttled India`s participation in the Asian Trade Promotion Forum CEO meet held this week by withholding travel permission of an Indian High Commission official to Lahore, informed sources said on Friday. The 29th ATPF CEO meet was held in Lahore from September 24 to 26 and the trade counsellor of the Indian mission was to attend the event. However, he was denied permission to travel.

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

Praising the Indian Army`s surgical strikes, the Shiv Sena says the next step is to "crush the (Pakistani) snake totally, so that it never raises its hood again against India". The Shiv Sena further cautions India must not remain lax after the surgical strikes.

News agency ANI has quoted Army sources as saying that a few Pakistani channels are playing doctored video clips showing Indian Army casualties. The same is also circulating on social media. It is clarified that these are fake and example of black propaganda. We request that these clips not be circulated or telecast.

Islamabad wants peace in the region but "we will not allow anyone to cast an evil eye on Pakistan", Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday. Radio Pakistan quoted Sharif as making these comments at a cabinet meeting held to discuss the latest situation on the Line of Control and in Jammu and Kashmir.

In two-and-a-half years, this is the first Prime Minister-like action by Narendra Modi: Rahul Gandhi on surgical strikes.

जब प्रधानमंत्री जी, एक प्रधानमंत्री के लायक काम करते हैं तो मैं भी उनका समर्थन करता हूं

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) September 30, 2016

कांग्रेस पार्टी और पूरा हिन्दुस्तान उनके साथ इस बात पर खड़ा हुआ है।

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) September 30, 2016

Hailing the surgical strikes by India on terror launch pads across the LoC, the wife of martyred soldier Hemraj said the action was a "befitting reply" to Pakistan.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali has rejected an invitation for a conference scheduled in New Delhi next month amid rising tensions between the two neighbouring countries. In a letter to the Indian Supreme Court, he wrote that in the present conditions he could not attend the meeting, Geo News reported on Friday.

Pakistan Chief Justice cancels New Delhi visit

The Kerala Assembly unanimously applauds the "surgical strikes" across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

We hope no one will allow safe havens for terrorists to be used against neighbours: Afghan envoy to India Shaida Abdali

Surgical strikes by India in PoK an act of self defence: Afghanistan

Pakistan`s theatre owners have decided to withdraw and ban screening of Indian movies until bilateral tensions between the two countries subside. However, the Pakistani government has not yet issued an official directive in this regard.

Over 20,000 residents of border villages in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday migrated to safer places as the authorities declared areas close to the international border "out of bounds for all civilian movement".

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over the possibility of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of jihadists, which she said was "a threatening scenario", according to a media report.

Hillary Clinton fears nuclear suicide bombers from Pakistan

Calling the Uri attack as "despicable", B'nai B'rith International, a top global Jewish body, has offered full support to India in its fight against terrorism.

Despite being asked to leave their villages, residents of Attari district have praised the Indian Army for its surgical strikes along the Line of Control to neutralise terrorists from crossing over into India. The government has ordered the evacuation of the civil population from villages falling in a 10-kilometer radius of the border with Pakistan.

Asserting that there was no question of retaliation from Pakistan over the `surgical strikes` by India as they had flatly denied the operation in the first place, Tilak Devasher, former Special Secretary at the Cabinet Secretariat, stated that Islamabad was in denial mode right now to defend the reputation of its Army Chief Raheel Sharif, who had boasted of his Army`s capability to counter any threat.

Pakistan`s cabinet met on Friday to review the situation on the 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.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today held separate meetings with the chiefs of important central security forces including National Security Guard (NSG) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The meetings were to ensure security in airports and various industrial units across the country.

A report says that images provided by ISRO's Cartosat 2C Satellite helped the Indian Army execute the surgical strikes across the LoC yesterday successfully. The Times of India has quoted sources in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 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."

How ISRO's Cartosat images helped Indian Army to conduct surgical strikes!

National Security Advisor​ Ajit Doval arrives at the Ministry of Home Affairs for the review security meet chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh after surgical strikes.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says the government has taken a note of the media reports that say one Indian soldier is in Pakistan's captivity. All attempts are being made to secure the captured soldier's release, India will take up the matter with Pakistan, adds Singh.

Will bring back our jawan, take up issue with Pakistan: Rajnath Singh

Condemning the Uri attack, US Senators Mark Warner and John Cornyn, co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, have called on Pakistan to cooperate fully and transparently in the investigation and prosecute any individuals within its territory that participate in the probe.

One more soldier, who was critically injured in the Uri attack, today died of his wounds, taking the toll to 19.

One more soldier injured in Uri attack dies; toll rises to 19

In an article titled “Asia arms imports on the rise as India buys new jets”, China's Global Times today said that India will deploy the recently bought Rafale fighter aircraft capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads near disputed regions with Pakistan and China. “Last week, India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in New Delhi for the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters in flyaway condition for $8.82 billion from French company Dassault. The jets can carry tactical nuclear warheads, and this means India’s nuclear deterrence capability will be greatly improved,” it said.

A state of high alert was issued across Uttar Pradesh, following the surgical strike across the LoC. Security was heightened in all districts, fearing retaliation from Pakistan. The Seema Shashastra Bal was also asked to step up vigil along the Indo-Nepal border. 

The United Nations has called on the Governments of India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and encouraged them to continue their effort to resolve their differences peacefully and through dialogue amid rising tensions between the two nuclear states.

Ambassador Richard Verma, who was in the US, is rushing back to India in the wake of the Indian Army`s surgical strikes.

US Ambassador rushing back to India after surgical strikes

The Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Border Security Force were put on high alert in Punjab and neighbouring states to counter any escalation of the situation following the surgical strike across the LoC, sources said on Friday.
 

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will today hold a meeting with the top officials of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force to review the security situation in border areas.

Former external affairs minister and former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna said the surgical strike was a message to Islamabad that India`s patience has been tested and exhausted and that New Delhi won`t tolerate such skirmishes.

The White House urged India and Pakistan to avoid escalation in their dispute over Kashmir. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said reports from the region indicated the Indian and Pakistani militaries had been in communication with one another "and we encourage continued discussions ... to avoid escalation".

US calls for de-escalation of tension between India and Pakistan, asks Islamabad to act against terror groups

A day after the surgical strikes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to review today the situation at the LoC and the international border with Pakistan at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. As the tensions have heightened, Modi is expected to assess the situation on the ground, sources said.

Surgical strikes: PM Narendra Modi to chair CCS meet today, review border situation

Extending his support to the Centre over the surgical strike carried out by the Indian Army, former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid has said that many more steps need to be taken and hoped that the government is equipped to take concrete action in the future.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called a cabinet meeting today.

Pakistan`s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi is set to meet UN chief Ban Ki-moon today to inform him about the "surgical strikes" that India carried out on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control.

Pakistan to inform UNSC over India's ''surgical strikes''

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has expressed grave concern over the escalation of tension along the LoC. "The confrontation could lead to a disaster of epic proportions if urgent steps are not taken to bring down the heightened tensions in the region. New Delhi and Islamabad must open channels of communication realising the dangerous consequences of any escalation of an ongoing confrontation along the borders."

Chief Ministers of various states have expressed their support to the Central Government and the Indian Army for conducting surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the LoC to neutralise terrorists planning to infiltrate into Indian territory. 

Pakistan insisted that no "surgical strike" took place and that there were only firing and artillery shelling between the two armies across the Line of Control (LoC) that killed two of its soldiers and left some others wounded. Pakistan threatened to repel any Indian attack. 

Eleven days after a terror attack killed 18 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, India carried out "surgical strikes" on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control, inflicting massive casualties and dramatically heightening tensions in the region. An unspecified number of terrorists and Pakistani troops were killed in the late Wednesday operation across Kupwara and Poonch sectors as the army moved Special Forces into Pakistan-held Kashmir, officials said on Thursday.