An all-party meeting will be held in the Parliament library at 11 am on Saturday to discuss Wednesday’s terror attack on security forces personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, ANI reported. At least 40 CRPF jawans were killed when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in Lethpora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The CRPF, which had earlier said 37 of its personnel had been killed, revised the toll on Friday afternoon.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed extremist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the second most deadly attack in the history of the paramilitary force.
The all-party meeting is the first of its kind called by the National Democratic Alliance government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to News18. The report said the meeting will aim to consult with other parties and come to a consensus on the future course of action for India. Other reports, however, said the government will inform the parties about the security situation in Kashmir at the meeting.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday morning. After the meeting, Arun Jaitley, who resumed charge of the Finance Ministry, said, “The home minister, after his return from Kashmir, will soon call an all-party meeting.”
Congress President Rahul Gandhi said earlier in the day that the Opposition will stand united with the government.
Also read:
- Pulwama attack Live updates: India summons Pakistan high commissioner, PM Modi says perpetrators will be punished
- ‘By the time this video reaches you, I’ll be in Heaven’: The teen behind Kashmir’s deadliest attack
- With February 14 attack, CRPF in Kashmir has lost more men in 2019 than in four years put together
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