PM says India will pursue terrorists amid tit-for-tat

India will pursue terrorists to the ends of the earth, and the nation's spirit will never be broken by terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, pledging to punish those responsible for the deadly terror strike in Kashmir that killed 26 people two days earlier.

- Rezaul H. Laskar

In his first public comments since the Pahalgam attack, Modi spoke briefly in English—a rarity when the prime minister is in the country—warning both terrorists and their backers in an address that spoke to the world and especially to Pakistan, which is accused of training and sponsoring the attackers.

"Friends, today from the soil of Bihar, I say it to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth," Modi said in Bihar's Madhubani district as part of the Panchayati Raj day celebrations.

"India's spirit will never be broken by terrorism."

His comments came a day after India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan, suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty and closed the Attari border checkpost.

"The will of 140-crore Indians will ensure that the backbone of the attackers and their patrons is broken once and for all...Punishment will definitely be served," he said.