India brief foreign diplomats on Nagrota gunfight

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Monday told a select group of Heads of Missions that the suspected militants killed in a gunfight in Nagrota on Srinagar-Jammu highway on November 19 belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad.
He also briefed diplomtes about the discovery of a cross-border tunnel that was allegedly used by the militants to reach the Indian territory.
“The Heads of Missions were provided with a detailed information docket giving the details of the incident as it transpired as well as a list of items and munition that were recovered from the militants clearly indicating their Pakistani origins,” said a source familiar with the meeting that was attended by some of the leading foreign diplomats residing in India.
Shringla said the attackers were clearly planning the biggest attack in India since the Pulwama strike in February 14, 2019. The diplomats were told that the attack appears to be part of efforts to sabotage the DDC elections in Jammu and Kashmir and was designed to “coincide with the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai strikes”.
The Indian side highlighted the secret tunnel unearthed beneath the International Border in Jammu’s Samba Sector on Sunday and said the four militants who were killed in the encounter on November 19 used the tunnel to carry out their plans.
Shringla briefed the envoys about the past attacks by the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that “…in the year 2020 itself we have seen 200 incidents of militant violence and neutralisation of 199 militants”.