Will give befitting reply, warns Rajnath

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has thundered out a warning to the terrorists, and their handlers, behind the Pahalgam terror attack - in which 26 people were killed - vowing direct retaliation and declaring the Indian government will identify and bring to justice all who conspired against the nation.

"Those responsible for such acts will receive a strong response in the near future. We won't punish only the monsters who carried out this act of brutality and barbarianism..." he said at an event in Delhi. "We will also reach those who hid behind a curtain to carry out this conspiracy. Attackers and their masters will be targeted," he said Wednesday, after a 2.5-hour meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the three military chiefs to discuss the security situation in J&K.