Narendra Modi, the PM of India sat at his desk on the evening of 15 th February 2019

contemplating what should be India’s response to deal with the incident last evening. On 14
February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National
Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora in the Pulwama district,
Jammu and Kashmir. The attack resulted in the death of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
personnel and the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based
Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. A local youth named Adil Ahmed Dar was identified
as the attacker.
Fallout of the incident
The incident sparked intense public discussion on the role of various stakeholders in dealing
with the J&K issue. The govt. would be blamed for speaking tough but acting soft on Pakistan,
the media was blamed for its “Aman ki Asha” tagline which encouraged celebrating bonhomie
with Pakistan, the intelligentsia and liberals for accusing the army of brutalities in J&K while the
forces suffered such incidents on a regular basis. The public was furious and impatient with the
efforts of the govt. while the govt. was eager to please the public before the impending General
elections in a few months.
The Decisions
The PM called a meeting to settle on various decisions. He wanted to discuss the possible steps
to be taken and measure the consequences of their decisions on the security policy of the
country. The meeting included the cabinet ministers of defence, home, external affairs, finance,
trade and commerce as well as the Chief of Army, Indian Army. The defence minister had to
decide what had to be done to stop penetration of Indian borders from the Pakistani side. The
home minister had to decide whether it made sense to impose curfew in the state of J&K and
how to improve the security situation in the state of J&K. The minister of external affairs had to
decide how to isolate Pakistan internationally and in the United Nations as well as what
response to send to Pakistan officially. The minister of finance and trade and commerce had to
agree whether it made sense to impose blockades and duty on Pakistani goods arriving into
India. The chief of army had to design a new security policy for the state of J&K to deal with the
increased gravity of the situation. 
PM Narendra Modi was concerned that the steps that the govt. takes might not be enough to
convince the voters in the 2019 general elections. Moreover, harsh actions may polarise the
state of J&K against the security forces even further and may raise hackles of human rights
activists. He was further concerned how strong an action India could take without pre-empting
war with Pakistan. As he pondered over these issues, the impending 2019 elections loomed
large on his mind.