The dead were identified as belonging to Punjab province. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation.
The recent terror acts are a sign of our enemy's desperation, he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
On the Opposition's poll promise of statehood restoration, Shah said, "I want to ask Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi, who is going to restore the statehood. You cannot give it back. Why are you misleading the public?"
'People want to do business in the name of the Kedarnath temple.'
District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman in the hospital.
A massive operation is on to flush out the remaining holed-up terrorists.
Leaders across the political spectrum, actors and many others have condemned the Amarnath Yatra terror attack, in which terrorists killed seven and injured 19 others.
At least 600 pilgrims traveling to the Amarnath shrine, led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers, on Sunday courted arrest after they were prevented from proceeding towards the hill shrine by the state administration. The date of the yatra was fixed on June 25 by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. But the pilgrims tried to start the yatra from Sunday, defying the prohibitory orders clamped to deter them.
A fresh batch of 6,162 pilgrims, including 1,360 women and 222 Sadhus on Monday left the winter capital for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in Kashmir, officials said.
India today summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over the denial of access to its envoy in Islamabad and consular officials to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib and meet visiting Indian pilgrims.
'The Galwan clash in 2020 resulted in a large number of troops being moved from J&K to Eastern Ladakh which caused a thinning of deployment in the Jammu area.'
According to the officials, fresh batches of pilgrims were not allowed to leave Jammu to embark on their yatra due to closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
On Monday, five Army personnel were killed and five injured when heavily armed terrorists hurled a grenade and opened indiscriminate fire on two army vehicles around 3.30 pm on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar mountainous road near Badnota village, about 150 km from the district headquarters Kathua.
The annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra began on Friday as the first batch of 58 pilgrims was flagged off by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat from Almora.
The heavy rush of unregistered pilgrims pouring in thousands into the Valley daily is posing a serious challenge to the authorities who are facing overcrowding at the base camps, traffic jams and throwing haywire the logistics put in place for the annual Amarnath yatra.
More than 600 people have visited hospitals and medical camps in Puri. However, only over 130 have been admitted to hospital, said Director of Health Services, Bijay Mohapatra.
While the TN Government Railway Police sleuths are questioning five passengers, the commissioner of railway safety commenced inquiry over the mishap in Madurai.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
Another tragedy struck on the Amarnath pilgrims on Sunday when a bus on its way to Pahalgam fell into a deep gorge.
Over 500,000 pilgrims have so far visited the holy Amarnath cave shrine in the Himalayas, although only 3.50 lakh had registered themselves from different parts of the country for this year's yatra.
Two pilgrims died of cardiac arrest en route to the 3,880 m high holy cave shrine of Amarnath even as one lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrine, officials said in Srinagar on Friday.
Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday.
All Indian nationals, who were stranded in Simikot and Hilsa of Humla district in far-west Nepal, safely returned to Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Four Amarnath pilgrims died due to cardiac arrest en route to the cave shrine in Kashmir Himalayas over the past three days, taking the death toll in this year's pilgrimage to 15, officials said in Srinagar on Sunday.
A policeman was also injured in the gunfight that broke out in Bajaad village in the Gandoh area around 9:50 am.
Hindu pilgrims from Pakistan called on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu on Wednesday, after completing their pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.The chief minister said that he would like to see pilgrims from Pakistan visiting the Amarnath shrine in Kashmir also. "The peace process initiated by the two countries had resulted in closing the mouths of guns and mortars on the border and opening of up a new phase of friendship," Azad said.
A terrorist holed up in a border village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district was killed by security forces on Wednesday in a more than 15-hour operation during which his partner was also shot dead and a CRPF jawan lost his life, officials said.
The government will review the weather conditions in the coming days and accordingly take a decision in the interest of the pilgrims, he said.
"The helicopter with four passengers and the captain crashed 500 meters short of the helipad near the cave shrine on Thursday morning. A woman pilgrim on the ground was killed on the spot while five occupants of the helicopter were wounded," said a senior police officer.
The bus was returning from the Gangotri shrine.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Wednesday alleged the Pakistan high commission had denied pilgrim visa to a group of Sikh devotees without assigning any reason.
The Save Sharda Committee (SSC) in Bengaluru on Friday sought the help of the Indian government to remove the 'encroachment by the Pakistan Army' on the Sharda temple premises in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), in order to pave way for its restoration.
As Ayodhya readies itself for the glittering, much-awaited consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 22, and as millions of pilgrims and devotees pour into the holy city for the momentous event, companies are rushing to do their bit and be a part of the mega celebrations. Some are offering a part of their profits as donations, telcos are beefing up the number of cellular towers to ensure better connectivity, and there are those distributing jalebis and food platters.
A pall of gloom descended on the airport as the plane landed.
The Supreme Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on directives passed by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display names of owners.
Of these, 64,993 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine till Tuesday evening, while over 1,500 had darshan on Wednesday morning.
It's a temple and we cannot impose any dress code for pilgrims," it was stressed.
Twenty Sri Lankan Tamil pilgrims visiting the shrine of Lord Ayyapa at Sabarimala, have been arrested as they did not possess proper travel documents. The pilgrims, who were said to have come from Jaffna in Sri Lanka, were arrested late last night and they would be produced in the court later today, police sources said.
Over 1.43 lakh intending pilgrims have registered themselves for this year's Amarnath Yatra beginning from July 2.
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