Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla on Monday briefed a select group of Heads of Missions including P-5 states on the planned terrorist attack in Nagrota district in Jammu which was foiled on 19th November and the implications of the incident on security, diplomacy and the battle against terrorism.

This is the first of several briefings to be conducted by MEA in small groups in view of Covid-19 situation. Other Secretaries will also be briefing Heads of Missions in their areas of jurisdiction, sources told ET.

The idea is to share information as widely as possible with the international community.

The Heads of Missions were provided with a detailed information docket giving the details of the incident as it transpired as well as list of items and munition that were recovered from terrorists clearly indicating their Pakistani origins, sources added.

They were also briefed on how the terrorists got into India which is now clear through the discovery of an underground tunnel in the Samba sector, according to the highly placed sources.

It was shared with them how preliminary investigations by the police and intelligence authorities, markings on the recovered AK47 rifles and other items lead us to believe that the terrorists belonged to Pakistan based Jaish-e- Mohammad.

It was pointed out how the incident of 19th November is part of Pakistan’s ongoing terror campaign in J&K and that in the year 2020 itself we have seen 200 incidents of terrorist violence and neutralization of 199 terrorists.

Details of JeM’s involvement in previous such incidents were also shared, sources informed.

In terms of the bigger picture, it was clear that the terrorists were planning the biggest terror attack in India since Pulwama in February 2019 and the implications can be guessed, sources said, adding, This is part of ongoing efforts to sabotage the DDC elections and to carry out a terror attack aimed to coincide with the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes.

The Heads of Missions were sensitized about Indian concerns regarding Pakistan’s sustained efforts to destabilize the situation in J&K and to subvert local elections and democracy.