Rajnath singles out Pak in call with US defence secretary

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- SHUBHAJIT ROY

UNDERLINING THE "STRONG support" of the US government in India's fight against terrorism, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth told defence minister Rajnath Singh Thursday that Washington stands in solidarity with New Delhi and "supports India's right to defend itself", according to the Indian government.

Singh told Hegseth that "Pakistan has a history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations".

This is the first time that Pakistan has been named by a senior Indian government minister in the context of the Pahalgam terror attack. And the most clear and unequivocal support for the Indian government, at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the top military leadership that the armed forces have "complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response" to the Pahalgam terror attack in which terrorists killed 25 tourists and a local resident.