India PM Modi warns Pakistan of more strikes if there is a 鈥榯errorist attack鈥�

India鈥檚 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation following a truce with Pakistan, via video conferencing in New Delhi. (Reuters)
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  • Modi was speaking two days after the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to a ceasefire, announced by US President Donald Trump
  • Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it supports militants who attack it and says the locations hit by India last week were civilian sites

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Monday that New Delhi would target 鈥渢errorist hideouts鈥� across the border again if there were new attacks on India and would not be deterred by what he called Islamabad鈥檚 鈥渘uclear blackmail.鈥�
Modi鈥檚 first public comments since Indian armed forces launched strikes on what New Delhi said were 鈥渢errorist camps鈥� across the border last week indicated a hardening of India鈥檚 position on ties with its neighbor, which were icy even before the latest fighting.
Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it supports militants who attack it and says the locations hit by India last week were civilian sites.
Modi was speaking two days after the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to a ceasefire, announced by US President Donald Trump.
The truce was reached after four days of intense exchanges of fire as the old enemies targeted each other鈥檚 military installations with missiles and drones, killing dozens of civilians.
The military confrontation began on Wednesday, when India said it launched strikes on nine 鈥渢errorist infrastructure鈥� sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir following an attack on Hindu tourists by militants in Indian Kashmir last month that killed 26 men.
Islamabad denied any links to the attack and called for a neutral investigation.
鈥淚f there is a terrorist attack on India, a fitting reply will be given... on our terms,鈥� Modi said, speaking in Hindi in a televised address. 鈥淚n the coming days, we will measure every step of Pakistan... what kind of attitude Pakistan will adopt.鈥�
鈥淚ndia will strike precisely and decisively at the terrorist hideouts developing under the cover of nuclear blackmail,鈥� he said, and listed New Delhi鈥檚 conditions for holding talks with Islamabad and lifting curbs imposed after the Kashmir attack.
鈥淚ndia鈥檚 position is clear: terror and talks cannot go together; terror and trade cannot go together. And water and blood cannot flow together,鈥� he said, referring to a water sharing pact between the two countries New Delhi suspended.
There was no immediate response to his comments from Islamabad.
Military talks
Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan both rule part of the Himalayan region of Kashmir, but claim it in full. They have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over the region and there have been several other more limited flare-ups, including in 2016 and 2019.
The latest military conflict between the South Asian neighbors spiralled alarmingly on Saturday and there were briefly fears that nuclear arsenals might come into play as Pakistan鈥檚 military said a top body overseeing its nuclear weapons would meet.
But the Pakistani defense minister said no such meeting was scheduled.
Military analysts said this may have been Pakistan鈥檚 way of hinting at its nuclear option as Islamabad has a 鈥渇irst-use鈥� policy if its existence is under threat in a conflict.
Modi鈥檚 address came hours after the military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan spoke by phone, two days after they agreed to the ceasefire.
鈥淚ssues related to continuing the commitment that both sides must not fire a single shot or initiate any aggressive and inimical action against each other were discussed,鈥� the Indian army said.
鈥淚t was also agreed that both sides consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction from the borders and forward areas,鈥� it added.
There was no immediate Pakistani readout of the military operations chiefs鈥� talks.
In Washington, Trump said the leaders of India and Pakistan were 鈥渦nwavering,鈥� and the US 鈥渉elped a lot鈥� to secure the ceasefire, adding that trade was a 鈥渂ig reason鈥� why the countries stopped fighting.
鈥淲e are going to do a lot of trade with Pakistan... and India. We are negotiating with India right now. We are soon going to negotiate with Pakistan,鈥� he said, just ahead of Modi鈥檚 speech.
Pakistan has thanked the US for brokering the ceasefire while India, which opposes third-party involvement in its disputes with Pakistan, has not commented on Washington鈥檚 role.
Markets soar
Pakistan鈥檚 international bonds rallied sharply on Monday, adding as much as 5.7 cents in the dollar, Tradeweb data showed.
Late on Friday, the International Monetary Fund approved a fresh $1.4-billion loan and also the first review of its $7-billion program.
Pakistan鈥檚 benchmark share index closed up 9.4 percent on Monday, while India鈥檚 blue-chip Nifty 50 index closed 3.8 percent higher in its best session since February 2021.
In Beijing the foreign ministry said China, which also controls a small slice of Kashmir, was willing to maintain communication with both its neighbors, and play a 鈥渃onstructive role in achieving a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire鈥� and maintaining peace.
India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.