India has decided to withdraw Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, and those behind the attack will "have to pay a heavy cost", Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday, after the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting.
Briefing reporters on the meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here in the morning, Jaitley said the government will issue a notification announcing withdrawal of MFN status to Pakistan.
India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attack in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in an IED blast, perpetrated by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group.
Jaitley said the government is also taking all possible steps to ensure that full security is maintained and to ensure that those who have committed this heinous act of terrorism and those who have supported it actively are made to pay a heavy cost.
Jaitley said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will go to Srinagar with a team of officials and on return, possibly tomorrow, an all-party meeting will be held to brief the parties on the steps being taken.
The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met on Friday morning to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the terror attack in Pulwama that left 40 CRPF jawans dead.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are present at the meeting.
Top security officials are learnt to have made a presentation on the incident and the overall security situation in the state.