PM Modi cuts short Saudi visit after terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir

Jeddah, Apr 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi abruptly ended his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and decided to return to New Delhi on Tuesday night following a deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, government sources said.

Modi, who held bilateral talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, skipped an official dinner hosted on Tuesday to address the crisis, they added.

He was originally scheduled to return to India on Wednesday night.

Modi, who arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday afternoon, delayed a scheduled meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince by at least two hours on Tuesday evening to assess the situation in Kashmir.

Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Pahalgam town in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.

The attack, claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group, prompted an urgent internal meeting at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Jeddah, attended by Modi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and other senior officials.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Doval visited the Royal Palace earlier to brief the Saudi leadership on the sudden change in plans, sources said.

Modi’s planned itinerary, which included a visit to a date factory in Jeddah on Wednesday to meet Indian workers, was cancelled.

Modi was set to depart Jeddah after spending less than 12 hours in the Saudi port city.

Sources said he is expected to chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security in Delhi on Wednesday to address the escalating situation in Kashmir.