USA

The New York Times has been pulled up by the US government for its reportage of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people, including a foreign national were shot dead after being asked to prove their allegiance to Islam.

The attack, for which a Pakistan-based terror group The Resistance Front – an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba – claimed responsibility, was reported by The New York Times as a “militant” attack. An introduction to the report also said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called the “shooting” a “terror attack”.

NYT CALLED OUT OVER TERROR REPORTAGE

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States government took to social media to publicly call out The New York Times article over its news report, describing it as being “removed from reality”. The NYT headline read ‘At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir’.

“This was a terrorist attack, plain and simple,” noted the US government, adding that “Whether it’s India or Israel, when it comes to terrorism, the NYT is removed from reality.”

The post also shared a photo with the correction made on NYT’s behalf, saying, “Hey, NYT, we fixed it for you.”

Hey, @nytimes we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple.

Whether it’s India or Israel, when it comes to TERRORISM the NYT is removed from reality. pic.twitter.com/7PefEKMtdq

— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) April 23, 2025

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MILITANCY AND TERRORISM

Militancy usually refers to an armed rebellion from within a State in order to achieve a political or social outcome, whereas terrorism has an external context, where a calculated use of violence creates a climate of fear in a particular geography in order to wage asymmetrical warfare against a foreign nation to destabilize the region towards a larger intent or objective.

India, in a statement on Wednesday, said that a top-level meeting on security chaired by the prime minister noted that “In the briefing to the Cabinet Committee on Security, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in the Union Territory and its steady progress towards economic growth and development.”

‘DOUBLE-STANDARDS’

The Lashkar-e-Taiba or LeT, from which its shadow outfit The Resistance Front stems, is a UN-designated terrorist organisation, which makes its terror credentials recognised globally. Yet, a large swathe of the western media, which President Trump refers to as “legacy media”, often report incidents of terror as “shootings” or “militant” incidents, according to analysts.

Pakistan has, for decades, carried out “cross-border terrorism” against India and claimed it to be the act of “non-State actors” – a classic case of proxy warfare. India has on numerous occasions shared evidence with Pakistan about terrorists coming from areas under its illegal occupation and control, but Islamabad has never cooperated with New Delhi.

Analysts have often pinpointed the “double-standards” in the western media’s coverage of Kashmir. While most of the “legacy media” in the West report Russia’s moves in Ukraine as “an invasion”, the same media reports Kashmir as a “dispute” and not Pakistan’s invasion of Indian territory.

THE INVASION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

In 1947, during Partition of India, two nations were formed – India, which chose to remain secular, and Pakistan, which was created on the ideology of the two-nation theory – which demanded a separate nation for Muslims.

Pakistan thereby became the first nation in the world to be formed on the basis not of a common language or ethnicity, but on that of religion.

At the time of Independence, the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes the Northern Areas – now called Gilgit-Baltistan – joined the Union of India by signing the instrument of accession. But Pakistan, which was formed on the ideology of the two-nation theory claimed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir – a Muslim-majority state should ideally belong to Pakistan.

But when Karachi (then Capital of Pakistan), saw that Jammu and Kashmir had merged with India, Muhammad Ali Jinnah – the founder of Pakistan – orchestrated an invasion by sending tribesmen who fueled widespread violence in Kashmir. He then ordered troops of the newly-formed Pakistan Army to invade Kashmir and forcibly take it over. This led to a armed conflict between India and Pakistan. By the time the Indian forces could reach Kashmir, Pakistan had invaded and illegally occupied the regions we now refer to as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir – which includes the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
 

The Canadian federal election is scheduled for Monday, April 28. The country’s electorate will vote to elect members of the House of Commons. The results will determine the next government and Prime Minister.

The polls come after Prime Minister Mark Carney requested the Governor General to dissolve Parliament on March 23.

Election Day And Voting Process

On election day, polls will open across Canada at 9 am local time and close at 9:30 pm (6:30 pm IST and 7:00 am IST the next day, respectively). 

Given Canada’s six time zones, results will begin to trickle in shortly after polls close in the Atlantic provinces. The final results will be reported as polling stations close in the Pacific time zone. 

Approximately 28 million Canadians are registered to vote across 343 ridings, an increase from 338 in the 2021 election. 

Counting And Reporting Results

Ballots cast at the polls on election day are counted at the location where voting took place. Counting begins immediately after polls close. Elections Canada says that the doors of the polling station are locked during the counting process.

While preliminary results may be available shortly after polls close, official results are typically confirmed within a few days. This timeline allows for the completion of all counting processes, including those for advance polls and mail-in ballots, which may take longer to process.

Advance Voting And Voter Turnout

In the lead-up to election day, advance polls were held from April 18 to April 21. A record 7.3 million Canadians participated in advance voting – a 25 per cent increase from the 5.8 million voters who voted early in the 2021 general election.

Canadians can stay informed through Elections Canada’s official website and NDTV for the latest updates on the election results.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday he will sit for an interview with the reporter who uncovered a major security lapse after being inadvertently added to a group chat in which top US officials shared secret military strike plans.

The Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg was propelled to global fame — and roundly attacked by Trump and other cabinet officials — after publishing details of the sensitive exchanges on the Signal app in the run up to US strikes on rebel Huthis in Yemen.

Trump referenced the so-called “Signalgate” scandal when he announced the interview — scheduled for later Thursday — in a social media post that accused Goldberg of being “the person responsible for many fictional stories about me.”

“I am doing this interview out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it’s possible for The Atlantic to be ‘truthful,’ Trump said.

Goldberg’s stunning inclusion in the Yemen strikes chat sent shockwaves through the national security establishment and around the world, leading to calls for the resignation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host.

Hegseth, who is a military veteran but had no previous national security experience, revealed the times of strikes on the Iran-backed Huthis and the type of aircraft, missiles and drones used — all before the attacks actually happened.

Democrats have claimed that the lives of US service members could have been put at risk by the breach, and the row has raised serious questions about potential intelligence perils.

Trump has so far stood by Hegseth and other top officials on the chat, dismissing the scandal as a “witch hunt” and arguing that his Pentagon chief is doing a “great job.”

Goldberg — who will conduct Thursday’s interview with two Atlantic colleagues, according to Trump’s post — also drew the president’s ire in 2020 for an article in which he reported senior US military officers hearing the president call soldiers killed in World War I “suckers” and “losers.”

Trump has angrily denied the claim on multiple occasions but John Kelly, his chief of staff at the time of the purported remark, confirmed Goldberg’s reporting.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The US state of Alabama will be executing a man after he dropped his appeals, stating that he does not want to keep “wasting everybody’s time”. James Osgood, 55, admitted that he was guilty of raping and murdering a woman 15 years ago as he requested for the death penalty, according to a report in CBS News.

Osgood will be executed by lethal injection at 6 pm at William Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, on Thursday (Apr 24).

“The reason I dropped my appeals is that I am guilty of murder. I’m a firm believer in, like I said in court, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I took a life, so mine was forfeited. I don’t believe in sitting here and wasting everybody’s time and everybody’s money,” Osgood said in a telephone interview from prison.

Osgood was sentenced to death for the 2010 murder of Tracy Lynn Brown in Chilton County. As per the court documents, Osgood cut Ms Brown’s throat after he and his girlfriend sexually assaulted her. His girlfriend, who was Ms Brown’s cousin, was sentenced to life in prison.

Also Read | UK To Dim Sunlight In Bold Plan To Cool Earth But Scientists Are Not Amused

Osgood said he regrets all the “pain and suffering” he has caused Brown’s family and his own. He added that he doesn’t use Brown’s name whilst discussing the case as he feel he does not have the right to do so.

“I would like to say to the victim’s family, I apologise. I’m not going to ask their forgiveness because I know they can’t give it,” said Osgood.

Osgood added that he doesn’t want opponents of the death penalty protesting under his name.

“I don’t want protesting for me. There is no need. I asked for this. If you want to protest against executions, that’s fine, just don’t use my name as your platform,” he said.

Notably, Osgood’s initial death sentence was commuted by an appeals court ruling that jurors were given improper instructions. However, during a 2018 resentencing, Osgood asked to be executed, saying he didn’t want the families to endure another hearing.

With its back against the wall and no other options available, Pakistan’s top committee on security met today and after an hours-long discussion decided to mirror India’s actions in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Islamabad however, also threatened to suspend all agreements, including the Simla pact, which validates the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In a tit-for-tat move, Islamabad decided to suspend the permits issued to Indians under the SAARC visa exemption scheme, while also suspending all other visas, as was done by India a day before. It also decided to reduce Indian diplomatic staff at the High Commission to 30 persons – again, something India announced yesterday.

RESPONSE TO INDUS TREATY SUSPENSION

But finding itself on the losing end on India’s decision to suspend tthe Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan said, “Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an Act of War and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power.”

Pakistan faces a grave situation should the Indus and two other rivers – Jhelum and Chenab – which flow into the country be diverted or stopped, with tens of millions of people getting affected. Pakistan already faces an acute water shortage and such a punishing move will likely cripple the state of Pakistan.

THREAT TO SIMLA AGREEMENT

But Pakistan has stirred up a hornet’s nest with its claim that “Pakistan shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India including but not limited to Simla Agreement in abeyance, till India desists from its manifested behaviour of fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan”

This announcement is significant because the Simla Agreement, which was signed after the 1971 war makes provision for the ceasefire line to be known as the Line of Control or LoC – which is where the armies of the two nations are stationed. Should Pakistan suspend the Simla Agreement, it will put a question on the validity of the Line of Control.

ON BORDER, VISAS, AND TRADE

Some other steps taken by Pakistan in its response to India’s actions over the Pahalgam terror attack include:

• Pakistan shall close down the Wagah Border Post, with immediate effect. All cross-border transit from India through this route shall be suspended, without exception. Those who have crossed with valid endorsements may return through that route immediately but not later than 30 April 2025.
• Pakistan suspends all visas under SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) issued to Indian nationals and deems them cancelled with immediate effect, with the exception of Sikh religious pilgrims. Indian nationals currently in Pakistan under SVES are instructed to exit within 48 hours, less Sikh pilgrims.
• Pakistan’s airspace will be closed with immediate effect for all Indian owned or Indian operated airlines.
• All trade with India including to and from any third country through Pakistan is suspended forthwith.

The Pakistani statement also said that its “armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” adding that it will “never allow anyone to transgress its sovereignty, security, dignity and their inalienable rights”.

India is yet to respond to this statement issued by Pakistan and clarify its stand on Islamabad’s threat to suspend the Simla Agreement.
 

Mark Carney, the 24th Prime Minister of Canada, has called a snap election months ahead of the scheduled October polls. Elected the leader of the Liberal Party and sworn in as Prime Minister in March 2025, Mr Carney heads into the elections with some edge over his Conservative counterpart Pierre Poilievre.

There is no fixed term for the Prime Minister in Canada. He or she can hold the office as long as they have the confidence of the majority of the House of Commons. The shortest tenure in Canadian political history was that of Charles Tupper, who held the office for just 68 days in 1896.

Mr Tupper’s brief and turbulent time at the helm serves as a reminder of how quickly leadership can shift in a parliamentary democracy.

About Charles Tuppe

Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1821, Mr Tupper was a trained physician. He earned his medical degree in Scotland in 1843 before returning home to practice.

According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and The Canadian Encyclopedia, he is the only prime minister of Canada to have had a medical background. Yet it was politics, and not medicine, that defined his legacy.

Mr Tupper began his political career by defeating Liberal stalwart Joseph Howe in 1855 to secure a seat in Nova Scotia’s provincial assembly.

As part of the Conservative Party, he swiftly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming premier in 1864. His support for a united Canada played a critical role in shaping the Confederation. He persuaded the Nova Scotia House of Assembly to support the federal union in 1866, paving the way for the birth of Canada in 1867, according to a report in The National Post.

After Confederation, he transitioned to federal politics, serving in various roles under Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, including Minister of Public Works and Minister of Railways and Canals. Even while stationed in London as Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK, he remained a key political figure.

His return to active politics came after the sudden death of Prime Minister John Thompson in 1894. When  Mackenzie Bowell failed to manage a party crisis over Manitoba’s education rights for Francophones, Mr Tupper was asked to step in as Secretary of State, with a clear understanding that he would become prime minister once Parliament was dissolved, according to a report in the National Post.

Mr Tupper formally assumed the premiership on May 1, 1896, at the age of 74, making him the oldest person to ever take office as Canadian prime minister. But his time was limited. Though the Conservatives won the popular vote in the June 23 election, they failed to secure a majority in the House of Commons. Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals clinched more seats, forming a minority government.

He initially resisted relinquishing power, questioning Mr Laurier’s ability to govern. He even attempted to make appointments, which were rejected by then-Governor General Lord Aberdeen. Ultimately, Mr Tupper was compelled to resign without ever having set foot in Parliament as prime minister.

“He even began making appointments, none of which were approved by Lord Aberdeen,” the National Post reported.

If Mark Carney fails to secure a win in the April 28 election, he will replace Charles Tupper as Canada’s shortest-serving Prime Minister, with just 45 days in office.

The ripple effects of Donald Trump’s global trade war are increasingly being felt across numerous industries all at once and on Wednesday were once again exerting pressure on U.S. stock markets that have been roiled for weeks by his erratic trade policies.

Stocks fell broadly, with tech stocks hit particularly hard after bellwethers like Nvidia that are highly tied into the world’s supply chain warned of hits to their bottom line.

Meanwhile, airlines said they are bracing for an uncertain summer travel season, and the head of the Federal Reserve noted slowing economic activity – but also cast a wary eye on the threat that tariffs pose to its goal of lowering inflation.

And though Trump has said numerous countries are lining up to make deals with the United States, the progress has been slow and uncertain. The president was set to engage personally in talks with Japan over tariffs later on Wednesday.

While the market volatility that erupted two weeks ago has ebbed, business leaders still say the uncertainty is stalling spending plans. The world’s two largest economies – the United States and China – remain in a full-blown trade war, and the status of U.S. talks with the European Union, Canada and other countries is unclear.

“What was true yesterday is no longer true today, what will be tomorrow I do not know,” said Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Rome-based Bulgari, the jewelry subsidiary of luxury giant LVMH, regarding U.S. tariff policy.

TECH SELL OFF

Tech companies were at the forefront of Wednesday’s ructions. AI chip giant Nvidia said its sales to China would cost it $5.5 billion in accounting charges due to the administration’s curbs on AI chip exports, while ASML, the world’s biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, said tariffs have made the outlook for both 2025 and 2026 uncertain. Other U.S. chip equipment makers could see a hit of about $1 billion yearly due to the levies, industry officials told lawmakers last week.

Stocks overall slid again on Wednesday, with the tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite falling 3%, led by a 7% drop in Nvidia. Fellow chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices said it would take a $800 million hit from the administration’s curbs on sales to China.

Even more optimistic companies tempered their positivity. United Airlines maintained its profit outlook for 2025, but unusually, laid out two scenarios for the year, saying that the macro environment was “impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence.”

Japan, the nation currently at the front of the queue in talks, was thrust into the position of having scheduled talks between economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent turn into a meeting with Trump himself on Wednesday evening. The U.S. president said he would attend the discussions personally to cover other non-trade issues as he continues to focus on the U.S. balance of trade with other countries.

Japan exports more than 1 million cars to the U.S. every year, particularly affordable models that could see their price tag rise by thousands of dollars if tariffs stay in place. Some automakers have broached moving some production to the U.S., but that is not an easy task.

“We need to have somewhat of a break on the tariffs for a period of time so that we can organize ourselves to localize …and bring the supplier base in the US,” Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier told Reuters, adding that the process takes years.

SCRAMBLING TO GET THINGS IN

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in a speech in Chicago, noted the slowing economy but added that “inflation is likely to go up as tariffs find their way and some part of those tariffs come to be paid by the public.”

U.S. consumer sentiment has deteriorated sharply since Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric around tariffs in mid-February.

Banking CEOs in recent days have said consumer spending has not dipped dramatically, but cracks are starting to appear. Retail sales were robust in March, largely due to the best month for auto sales since 2023, but other components in spending were softer, and service-sector spending could start to ebb as people load up on goods, worried about higher prices.

Retailers are aware of this possibility as well, as China-based discount retailers Temu and Shein encouraged shoppers to buy “now at today’s rates,” saying in nearly identical letters that they would be raising prices beginning April 25.

Spending on goods and equipment – both to and from the United States – could also face a bumpier path.

“Everybody was scrambling through the month of March to try to get things in,” said Marko Bebek, a sales manager for L.B. White, which makes hog barn equipment in the U.S. that is sold in Canada.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

At least two people were killed and 54 wounded after a missile attack on Kyiv early Thursday, the city mayor said.

Ukrainian authorities issued an alert for a missile attack, and AFP journalists heard explosions across the capital.

“Kyiv is being attacked by enemy missiles,” the city’s military authorities said on Telegram. 

Hours later, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said: “two people were killed in the capital”. 

“54 people were injured. 38 of them, including 6 children, were hospitalised,” he said in a Telegram post. 

In a bomb shelter set up in a basement of a residential building, over a dozen residents gathered after the air alert started, an AFP journalist witnessed. 

Kyiv was last hit by missiles in early April when at least three people were wounded.

It has been the target of sporadic attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

In Ukraine’s east, the city of Kharkiv was hit by seven missiles, city mayor Igor Terekhov said, adding later that “a massive drone attack” on the city was ongoing. 

“Stay safe!” said Terekhov.

Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia was attacking Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities “with missiles and drones right now”. 

“Putin shows only a desire to kill,” he said. “The attacks on civilians must stop.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

India on Wednesday announced that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Islamabad credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.

The move comes after the killing of 26 people including tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

What could be the impact of this move? The Indus system of rivers comprises the main river — the Indus — along with its five left bank tributaries, namely, the Ravi, the Beas, the Sutlej, the Jhelum and the Chenab. The right bank tributary, the Kabul, does not flow through India.

The Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej are together called Eastern rivers while the Chenab, the Jhelum and the Indus main are called as Western Rivers. Its waters are critical to both India and Pakistan.

Pradeep Kumar Saxena, who served as India’s Indus Waters Commissioner for over six years and has been associated with work related to the IWT, said India, as an upper riparian country, has multiple options.

“This could be the first step towards the abrogation of the Treaty, if the Government so decides,” Mr Saxena told Press Trust of India.

“Although there is no explicit provision in the Treaty for its abrogation, Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on Law of the Treaties provides sufficient room under which the treaty can be repudiated in view of the fundamental change of circumstances which has occurred with regard to those existing at the time of conclusion of the Treaty,” he said.

Last year, India sent a formal notice to Pakistan, seeking the “review and modification” of the treaty.

Listing out the steps India could take, Mr Saxena said in the absence of the treaty, India is under no obligation to follow the restrictions on the “reservoir flushing” of the Kishanganga reservoir and other projects on Western rivers in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indus Waters Treaty currently prohibits it.

Flushing can help India de-silt its reservoir but then filling the entire reservoir could take days. Under the treaty, reservoir filling after the flushing has to be done in August — peak monsoon period — but with the pact in abeyance, it could be done anytime. Doing it when sowing season begins in Pakistan could be detrimental especially when a large part of Punjab in Pakistan depends on the Indus and its tributaries for irrigation.

According to the treaty, there are design restrictions on building structures like dams on Indus and its tributaries. In the past, Pakistan has raised objections over the designs but in future it will not be obligatory to take the concerns onboard.

In the past almost every project has been objected to by Pakistan.

Notable are Salal, Baglihar, Uri, Chutak, Nimoo Bazgo, Kishenganga, Pakal Dul, Miyar, Lower Kalnai and Ratle.

After the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, the government cleared eight more hydropower projects in Ladakh.

The objections may no longer be applicable for the new projects.

There are also operational restrictions on how reservoirs are to be filled and operated. With the treaty in abeyance, these are no longer applicable.

Mr Saxena said India can stop sharing flood data on the rivers. This could also prove detrimental to Pakistan, especially during the monsoon when rivers swell.

India will now have no restriction on storage on Western rivers, particularly the Jhelum, and India can take a number of flood control measures to mitigate floods in the Valley, Mr Saxena said.

The tours of Pakistan side to India, which are mandatory under the treaty, may now be stopped.

At the time of Independence, the boundary line between the two newly created independent countries — Pakistan and India — was drawn right across the Indus Basin, leaving Pakistan as the lower riparian and India as the upper riparian.

Two important irrigation works, one at Madhopur on Ravi River and the other at Ferozepur on Sutlej River, on which the irrigation canal supplies in Punjab (Pakistan) had been completely dependent, fell in the Indian territory.

A dispute thus arose between two countries regarding the utilisation of irrigation water from existing facilities. Negotiations held under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), culminated in the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960.

According to the treaty, all the waters of the Eastern Rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi with average annual flow of around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) is allocated to India for unrestricted use while the waters of Western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab with average annual flow of around 135 MAF is allocated largely to Pakistan.

However, India is permitted to use the waters of the Western Rivers for domestic use, non-consumptive use, agricultural and generation of hydro-electric power. The right to generate hydroelectricity from Western rivers is unrestricted subject to the conditions for design and operation of the Treaty. India can also create storages upto 3.6 MAF on Western rivers, the pact states.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Grandparents of the 27-year-old Sudip Neupane are in sorrow and pain. The octogenarians are in a state of shock and dismay as they lost their grandchild in a terror attack in Pahalgam of Jammu-Kashmir on Tuesday.

Sudip, along with his mother, sister and brother-in-law, was attacked by terrorists while they were visiting the Mini-Switzerland of India- Pahalgam, when the terrorists opened fire, claiming the life of a 27-year-old.

“They were there on vacation. The mother, son, daughter and in-law are safe, he got shot and killed,” 89-year-old Khemananda Neupane told ANI as she sat on the bench outside the home where Sudip had grown up in Rupandehi district.

Sudip, along with his mother, Rima Pandey, Sister Sushma, and Brother-in-law Ujjwal Kafle, had started off for Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, 19 April, for a visit.

Sudip had completed his Health Assistant (HA) studies and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health (BPH) from Kathmandu, and had been working on an oral-health project at Adhunik Samaj Dental. As per the family, Sudip was asked about his religion and then shot at.

“He was asked whether he was a Muslim or Hindu, and he said I am a Hindu and then they shot him. I have been informed accordingly,” the grandfather told ANI as he wiped tears.

The octogenarians who live in the ancestral home of Sudip, some 10 kilometres away from the new residence where he, along with his mother Rima, has been living, heard the news earlier Wednesday morning.

“Earlier this morning, the son and daughter-in-law came to know about it, and then they informed us. I am in complete shock. They occasionally used to come here as they now reside in Kalikanagar. He had visited me about four months back in month of January (Magh), while going back he had said, ‘Grandmother if you fall ill then inform me’,” the 82-year-old grandmother Sewakali Neupane told ANI.

According to Nepal’s Foreign Minister, Arzu Rana Deuba, the mother of Sudip-Rima, also sustained injuries in the incident. The foreign minister announced the injury of the deceased mother as she confirmed the fatality earlier on Wednesday morning.

“My nephew, his mother, sister and brother-in-law, were on a visit to Jammu Kashmir. The Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists asked them their religion- whether you’re Hindu or Muslim, on replying to be Hindu, Sudip was gunned down- we have been informed. We are in deep sorrow and aghast,” Tejilal Neupane, the Uncle of deceased Sudip Neupane, told ANI.

“The Government of India should give compensation, and we expect a more secure environment while going on to visit Jammu and Kashmir,” Tejilal added.

Following Tuesday’s attack, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held a telephonic conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express condolences.

Sharing the update on X (formerly Twitter), PM Oli wrote, “Had a conversation with Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji to extend heartfelt condolences over the tragic loss of lives in the Pahalgam terrorist attack. I reaffirmed Nepal’s strong solidarity with India in opposing such brutal acts. I appreciate his sincere condolences on the death of a Nepali national.”

During the call, Prime Minister Oli condemned the attack in strong terms and reiterated Nepal’s firm commitment to standing with India in the fight against terrorism. Both leaders expressed sorrow over the loss of the Nepali citizen, highlighting the deep human impact of transnational violence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)