New Delhi: The Ministry of External affairs on Saturday summoned the acting head of the Pakistani high commission to lodge a “strong protest” over the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s alleged plan to disrupt the local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir.On Thursday morning, Indian security forces had killed four terrorists at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir, who were planning a “major terror attack”.“Initial reports indicate the attackers to be members of Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a terrorist organization proscribed by the United Nations and several countries. The Government of India expressed its serious concerns at continued terror attacks by JeM against India,” said the Ministry of External Affairs press release.As per PTI, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also held a review meeting on Friday following the killing of the four JeM terrorists. He also tweeted that the security forces have “defeated a nefarious plot to target grassroots level democratic exercises in Jammu and Kashmir”.Neutralising of 4 terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed and the presence of large cache of weapons and explosives with them indicates that their efforts to wreak major havoc and destruction have once again been thwarted.— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 20, 2020Echoing the Indian prime minister’s remarks, the MEA press note also asserted, “The huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosive material indicate detailed planning for a major attack to destabilise the peace and security in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, in particular, to derail the ongoing democratic exercise of conduct of local District Development Council elections.” It noted that Jaish-e-Mohammad had been behind the Pulwama attack in February 2019, which had triggered airstrikes between the two neighbours.The MEA announced that Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires was summoned and a strong protest was lodged over the attempted attack. “It was demanded that Pakistan desists from its policy of supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from its territory and dismantle the terror infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries.”India also conveyed that Pakistan needs to “fulfil its international obligations and bilateral commitments to not allow any territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India in any manner”.“The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard its national security in the fight against terrorism,” said the official statement.
