CM Siddaramaiah urges Centre to eliminate terrorists, ensure Pahalgam like incidents don't repeat
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday paid respects to Bharath Bhushan, who was shot dead in the terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jammu-Kashmir, and urged the central government to eliminate terrorists and ensure that such incidents don't repeat.
Asserting that everyone is with the Centre in its action against the terrorists, he, however, reiterated intelligence failure in stopping the attack from happening.
Bodies of two tourists from Karnataka who were killed by the terrorists in the Pahalgam terror attack were brought to the Kempegowda International Airport here in the early hours on Thursday.
Manjunath Rao and Bharath Bushan were among the 26 people killed in front of their families after confirming their religious identity in Pahalgam on Tuesday. Most of those killed by terrorists were tourists.
While Rao's body was taken to his hometown Shivamogga, Bushan's body was brought to his residence in Bengaluru. The last rites are likely to take place later in the day.
"On behalf of the government and seven crore Kannadigas, I pay my respects to Bharath Bhushan. Still young age, he was 41 years old and a BE, MBA graduate. An untoward incident has happened. This is an inhuman act. I strongly condemn it," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here after paying respects to Bhushan, he said that eliminating terrorists is the responsibility of the government. Terrorism and terrorist activities should have no place in the country.
"For no reason the government (central) should show any discount towards this. We are all with the central government. I urge the Centre to eliminate all terrorists. Our full support is there for this" he added.
Pointing out that innocent people who had gone to Kashmir as tourists were killed in front of their wives and children, the CM said, there cannot be another heinous and inhuman act than this. He further said that he strongly condemned it.
Citing the Pulwama terror incident in which around 40 soldiers were killed, he said, "Now this incident has happened. It should be ensured that such incidents don't repeat. The terrorists should be traced and they should be eliminated from the country. I urge the central government to take such measures. I somewhere feel that there was intelligence failure."
Noting that two people from the state have died and another person from Andhra who was a resident of Bengaluru was also killed and his body has been taken to his home state, Siddaramaiah said, Minister Madhu Bangarappa will be paying respect to Manjunath Rao in Shivamogga, on behalf of the government.
The government has announced Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the deceased, and will always be with them, he said.
A team of officers and Minister Santosh Lad rushed to Jammu and Kashmir to get back bodies to the state, and to ensure the return of Kannadigas who had gone there as tourists. 177 Kannadigas are being brought back. "It is the responsibility of the government," the CM said.
Bharath Bhushan was shot dead by the terrorists while his wife Sujatha and their three-year-old son were spared. While Manjunath Rao, a realtor, was also killed in the presence of his wife and son.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
