New Delhi: In his first public remarks after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (April 24) said that those who have conspired behind this attack will be “punished beyond their imagination”, while any of their remaining land will be “ground to dust” and promised to identify, trace and punish every terrorist and their backers.Modi, who had cancelled an official government programme scheduled in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, made the remarks in Bihar’s Madhubani where he was attending a National Panchayati Raj Day programme and inaugurated several developmental projects. Bihar is slated to go to the polls later this year.“On April 22, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam the ruthlessness with which terrorists killed innocent Indians the whole country is pained. India stands with the victims of the attack,” said Modi.“In this terror attack, some have lost their son, some have lost their brother, some have lost their spouse. Some spoke Bengali, some spoke Marathi, some spoke Gujarati, some spoke Odia, while some were from Bihar. From Kargil to Kanyakumari our pain is one. This attack is not only on innocent tourists, the country’s enemies have dared to attack India’s soul. I want to state clearly that those who have committed this attack, those terrorists, and those who have conspired this attack, will be punished beyond their imagination.”Modi said that the time has come to ensure that any remaining land that terrorists have is ground to dust.“Now the time has come to ground to dust any remaining little land left of these terrorists. 140 crore Indians’ willpower will break the back of these terrorists,” he said.In a departure from his usual speech in Hindi, Modi then proceeded to speak in English in a message aimed globally to state that India will “will identify, trace and punish every terrorist and their backers.”‘We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth’“Today, on the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world, India will identify, trace and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us during this time.”Tying in his speech with the upcoming elections in Bihar, Modi concluded by saying that national security is most essential for development.“National security is most essential for development. For Viksit Bharat, Viksit Bihar is necessary,” he said as he concluded his speech.Modi’s remarks in Bihar come hours ahead of the government convening an all-party meeting in New Delhi on the Pahalgam attack. Earlier on Wednesday, Modi who cut short his trip to Saudi Arabia to return to the country, chaired a key cabinet committee on security meeting on Wednesday in New Delhi.The meeting was attended by union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar along with top officials. Following the meeting, a slew of measures were announced against Pakistan, including pausing the Indus Waters Treaty, expelling Pakistani military attaches and downgrading ties.