Nirmala Sitharaman cuts short US, Peru visit after Pahalgam terror attack

Washington/New York: Following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is cutting short her official visit to the US and Peru and will depart for India at the earliest, according to an official statement on Wednesday.

Sitharaman arrived in the US on Sunday for a six-day visit, after which she was scheduled to travel to Peru for a five-day trip.

"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.

This comes as 26 people were killed after terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday. Most of those killed were tourists.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, also cut short his two-day visit and departed for New Delhi on Tuesday night, as the terror attack sent shockwaves in the country and drew widespread condemnation and outrage. He was originally scheduled to return to India on Wednesday night.