Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) today. The CCPA is one of the most powerful cabinet committees and is often called the "super cabinet".

This meeting is taking place just a day after a high-level discussion was held at Prime Minister Modi’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday. That meeting happened a week after a terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 people, most of them tourists, lost their lives.

As per government sources, during the Tuesday meeting, PM Modi gave the Indian Armed Forces “complete operational freedom” to respond to the terror attack in Pahalgam.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) discusses major political and economic matters that are important for the whole country. In the past, this committee has met during very serious situations. For example, after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, the CCPA met to talk about the country’s security and how to deal with terrorism. Just a few days later, on February 26, 2019, the Indian Air Force carried out air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan.

The current members of the CCPA include Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the chairperson, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Along with the CCPA meeting, PM Modi will also chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) today at 11 am. This is the government’s highest-level group that makes decisions on national security matters. It will be the second CCS meeting after the Pahalgam attack.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah have already arrived at Prime Minister Modi’s residence for the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting.

In the first CCS meeting, which was held soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian government took strict action against Pakistan. These included lowering diplomatic ties, shutting down key border routes, suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, and sending Pakistani military officials back from their High Commission in New Delhi.

 

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