Pahalgam attack news: UN Security Council consultations on India-Pakistan begin

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country was prepared "for national defence" after the military conducted a second missile test since a fresh stand-off with India following an attack carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorists in Kashmir's Pahalgam.

"The successful training launch clearly shows that Pakistan's defence is in strong hands," the prime minister said in a statement.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has postponed his official visit to Malaysia amid tension with India after the terror attack in Pahalgam.

“I expressed my full understanding of the difficult circumstances Pakistan is facing and conveyed Malaysia's hope that the situation will de-escalate swiftly,” said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her party is in touch with the family of a BSF jawan detained by Pakistan after crossing over into the country.

“It is very sad. He is Mr Sahu, and our party MP, Kalyan Banerjee, is in contact with his family. The government is also in contact, and we want him to be brought back as soon as possible,” she said.

Pahalgam terror attack news live updates: Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid ongoing developments post the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

The meeting comes after Chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi met the prime minister and briefed about the operational preparedness of the armed forces.

Pahalgam terror attack news live updates: Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, visited Pakistan on Monday to try and de-escalate the country's tensions with India after the terror attack in Pahalgam, news agency AP reported.

Araghchi will meet his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, as well as President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not give further details.

Pahalgam terror attack news live updates: Three more individuals were arrested by Assam police from different parts of the state for “defending Pakistan on Indian soil”. The total number of arrests in such cases has risen to 42 so far.

“Update on Crackdown against traitors for defending Pakistan on Indian soil. Total of 42 Anti Nationals put behind BARS,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X.

Pahalgam terror attack news live updates: UP Congress President Ajay Rai said his remark on Rafale fighter jets was meant to convey a message to the defence minister that people are expecting a response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

“When the Defence Minister went to take delivery of Rafale, he hung lemon-chillies on it. I just wanted to open his eyes and show him that the people of the country want action against terrorism. Strictest action should be taken against the terrorists, and the people giving them support should be finished,” Rai said.

Pahalgam terror attack news live updates: BJP's national spokesperson, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, slammed Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Arshad Madani for questioning the practicality of stopping river water flows to Pakistan after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty over the Pahalgam attack.

"I condemn this statement. This is a very objectionable statement. Pakistan can conduct a blood bath, and we can't even stop their water? What kind of advice is this? He is saying there shouldn't be a war...there is anger amongst the Muslim community also, for the kind of statement made by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind", Hussain said.

The Indian Army's Romeo Force and the Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday busted a suspected terror hideout in Poonch district's Surankote and recovered five improvised explosive devices, radio sets, binoculars and blankets.

Security forces have launched a massive manhunt to find the perpetrators of the April 22 Pahalgam attack, who fled the meadow after killing tourists by identifying them based on their faith. Read more

In Pakistan, the federal government and the military on Sunday briefed all political parties on the current state of bilateral relations with India, the Dawn reported. Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party also attended the briefing virtually.

According to the report, all political parties vowed a robust response if India resorted to any “misadventure.”

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind President Arshad Madani questioned the practicality of stopping river water flow to Pakistan and said it “won't be easy.”

"If someone stops water, let them stop it... These rivers have been flowing for thousands of years, where will you take their water? It's not easy. I think the rule should be one of love and not hatred. I am a Muslim, I am spending my life here in this country, and I know that the things which are being promoted here are not suitable for the country", Madani said.

According to the UNSC's website, the council's presidency will be held by Pakistan for the month of July 2025 by rotation. The country's non-permanent membership ends by 31 December 2026.

UNSC's presidency is held by each member for one month, in alphabetical order of their English names. This means that no country can hold the presidency for longer than a single month. This mechanism ensures that all members of the Council have a chance to chair its proceedings and set the agenda.

Pakistan's presidency assumes significance as tensions with India, post the Pahalgam terror attack, have sunk bilateral relations to a new low.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey slammed Congress leader Ajay Rai's ‘Nimbu mirchi’ comment on Rafale fighter jets and accused him of trying to undermine the armed forces' morale.

“Look at Ajay Rai, UP President of pro-Pakistan Congress Party, who is making headlines in Pakistani newspapers and channels, and understand the conspiracy of Congress Party to break the morale of the army in protest against Modi,” Dubey wrote on X.

The UP Congress president said earlier, “Terrorist activities have increased in the country, and people are suffering from it. Our youth lost their lives in the Pahalgam terror attack... But, this government, which talks a lot, says that they will crush terrorists - they brought Rafale, but they are in their hangars having chilly and lemon hanging in them. When will they take action against terrorists, those who support them, and their backers?”

The National Commission for Women has come out in support of Pahalgam attack victim Vinay Narwal's wife, Himanshi, saying that trolling a woman for her ideological expression is "not acceptable in any form".

The Indian Navy officer's wife, in her first comments following the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, appealed to the masses not to have hatred towards Muslims or Kashmiris. Read more

Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations and President of the Security Council, Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris, had expressed readiness to hold a meeting to discuss tensions between India and Pakistan.

"I think this meeting should take place because, as we said, maybe it's also an opportunity to have views expressed and this might help to diffuse a bit of tension,” Sekeris had said.

“We are in close contact...but this is something which might happen, I would say, sooner rather than later. We will see, we are preparing,” he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday that Moscow is willing to act to “a political settlement” of escalating tensions between Pakistan and India if the two countries mutually desire it.

“It was stressed that Russia is ready to act for a political settlement of the situation resulting from the act of terrorism of April 22 in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley, in the event of a mutual desire on the part of Islamabad and New Delhi,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold “closed consultations” on Monday after Pakistan, a non-permanent member, requested the same to discuss escalating tensions with India after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Apart from the five veto-wielding permanent members – China, France, Russia, UK and the US – the 10 non-permanent members in the Council are Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Somalia.

After India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, authorities are expected to swiftly complete all technical requirements for the proposed Sawalkot project—likely to be the largest project—on the river Chenab in Ramban and Udhampur districts in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The plans to create additional power generation include projects that will be commissioned at Sawalkot (1,856 MW), Pakal Dul (1,000 MW), Ratle (850 MW) Bursar (800 MW), Kiru (624 MW), Kirthai 1 and 2 (1,320 MW) hydropower projects, which will be fully synchronisable with the national grid,” an official told HT.

The project is part of plans to create nearly 12 gigawatts (GW) of additional hydropower from new projects on the Indus rivers.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday suggested “taking action” against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi for his alleged ties to Pakistan, even as his government arrested 40 people from the state for ‘supporting’ Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.

“If we can arrest 40 persons who talked in support of Pakistan, then we can take action against Gaurav Gogoi for his Pakistan visit. Gaurav Gogoi is not God. Gaurav Gogoi should have answered whether he had visited Pakistan or not. Whether he changed his children's citizenship by consulting with his children or made the decision himself. Why did his wife travel to Pakistan 19 times? If he doesn't give the answer, then Himanta Biswa Sarma knows very well how to get the answer,” Sarma said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Sunday condemned the alleged online abuse targeting the wife of the Navy personnel killed in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

“In the Pahalgam terror attack, a young Navy Man was shot dead, today his young wife is being maligned, character assassinated, abused, trolled and hated upon because she asked for justice over hate,” Chaturvedi wrote on X.

“She's the one dealing with the loss, she's the one who will have to live a life only with memories of her slain husband and all that these sick trolls have to offer is more hate, how are they any different from the terrorists? one killed her husband physically, these keyboard haters are killing her spirit mentally," she added.