New Delhi, Apr 24: The Central government on Thursday briefed leaders of various political parties on the Pahalgam terror attack and heard their views at an all-party meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and addressed by Home Minister Amit Shah.

All parties with more than five MPs were invited to the crucial meeting, which saw many regional and smaller parties being prevented from joining the deliberations. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, was one such outfit whose representative could not attend the meeting.

The government had convened a similar all-party meeting in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in 2019 or during the India-China standoff in 2020.

Ahead of the all-party meeting, Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday briefed President Droupadi Murmu on the Pahalgam terror attack and the actions being taken by the government in its aftermath.

At the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters in South Block, Indian diplomats engaged in an intensive round of briefings with top foreign envoys.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri led the series of briefings with diplomats from key nations, including the US, UK, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, China, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Norway.

Among the early attendees was EU envoy Herve Delphin, who left the MEA after a 30-minute briefing session with Misri.

Denis Alipov, the Russian Ambassador to India, also arrived at the MEA for a briefing along with ambassadors and senior diplomats from Gulf countries, including the UAE, Qatar, and Oman.

Diplomats from Southeast Asia, representing Indonesia and Malaysia, were also given a comprehensive briefing.

The terror strike in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people on Tuesday, has triggered widespread condemnation from across the global spectrum, and the government’s robust diplomatic response is seen as part of its effort to isolate terror sponsors globally while keeping its partners informed and engaged.

--IANS

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