FM Sitharaman cuts short US visit in view of Pahalgam terror attack

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has cut short her official visit to the US in view of the dastardly terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed at 26 people, mostly tourists, on Tuesday. Sitharaman is part of the five-member Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who curtailed his two-day Saudi Arabia trip and reached New Delhi on Wednesday morning. "Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman is cutting short her official visit to the USA-Peru. She is taking the earliest available flight back to India to be with our people in this difficult and tragic time," the finance ministry said in a post on X.

Sitharaman was on an 11-day trip to the US and Peru from April 20 to participate in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting. Terrorists struck at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others, according to officials. The deceased included two foreigners -- from the UAE and Nepal -- and two locals, they said. Condemning the attack, Sitharaman said "there are no words to express grief" as she paid condolences to the deceased. "I condemn the terrorist act. Condolences to all the affected families and friends of the deceased. Sincere prayers for the injured to recover fast," she said.