Pahalgam terror attack: PM Modi to chair crucial Union cabinet meeting today amid India-Pakistan tension

The CCPA, chaired by PM Modi, is the Centre's highest-level political advisory body and deals with matters of national importance that cut across ministries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, on Wednesday, convene a key meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).

The meeting of the CCPA - a significant decision-making body often referred to as the "Super Cabinet" - will be held shortly after another session of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), likely to be held earlier in the day, around 11 am, to review the security landscape.

Stay tuned for live updates here.

Wednesday’s gathering marks the second CCS meeting since the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people. The first CCS meeting was held on April 23, just a day after the carnage in Jammu and Kashmir's Baisaran Valley in Anantnag district.

During this meeting, the Narendra Modi government rolled out a slew of punitive measures as a mark of sharp retaliation against Pakistan, including freezing the Indus Waters Treaty, shutting down the Attari border, and cancelling all categories of visas for Pakistani nationals.

PM Modi held another critical meeting late Tuesday evening with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister granted the armed forces a free hand to determine the “timing, targets, and mode” of India’s response to the Pahalgam massacre — signalling a possible escalation in military posture.

The CCPA, chaired by PM Modi, is the Centre's highest-level political advisory body and deals with matters of national importance that cut across ministries. The committee is responsible for forging inter-ministerial consensus on politically sensitive issues, reviewing Centre-state relations, and shaping internal security and foreign policy strategies with political implications.

Notably, the last time the CCPA met in such a charged atmosphere was in February 2019, shortly after the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. That session had cleared the withdrawal of Pakistan’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trade status — a move that preceded the Indian Air Force’s airstrike on terror camps in Balakot.

Wednesday's CCPA meeting will see an attendance of top union ministers - Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Other key attendees include Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, JP Nadda, Annapurna Devi, and leaders from allied parties, underscoring the political weight of the gathering.