Rahul Gandhi returns to Delhi, cuts short US visit after Pahalgam attack

Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi reached New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday after cutting short his visit to the United States (US) in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Rahul Gandhi will attend the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, at around 10.30 am.

Earlier, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh informed us that Gandhi had shortened his official visit to the US.

"Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi has cut short his US visit and will be attending in person the CWC meeting in New Delhi tomorrow at 10:30 AM," Ramesh posted on X.

Notably, the Union government is likely to convene an all-party meeting on April 24 following a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. According to the sources, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the meeting.

As many as least 26 people were killed in the dastardly attack by terrorists on tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also cut short their visit to Saudi Arabia and the US, respectively, following the terror attack in Pahalgam.

Meanwhile, India on Wednesday announced a series of steps to give a strong message to Pakistan for its support to 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.

Meanwhile, 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.

Last rites of Indian Navy Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, were performed at his native place in Karnal. Shivamogga resident Manjunath Rao was killed in the terror attack. Family friend Dattatreya urged the government to take strong steps against terrorists.

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.