London/IBNS: A senior Pakistan Army officer made a controversial throat-slit gesture at the Indian diaspora who had gathered outside the Pakistan High Commission in London protesting against the Pahalgam terror attack that took place on April 22.

As the Indian diaspora were raising slogans, Colonel Taimur Rahat, who is the Pakistan Army and Air Advisor in the High Commission in London, flashed a poster of Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Islamabad after India conducted an airstrike to counter the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

Along with the poster, Colonel Rahat made the throat-slit gesture at the protesters who called it not just an "insensitivity" but a "provocation".

More than 500 members of the Indian and Jewish communities in the UK had gathered outside the High Commision in London to protest against the attack, which has killed 26 tourists, mostly Hindus, at Baisaran Valley in the popular tourist spot of Pahalgam in South Kashmir.

The protesters waved Indian flags, blamed Pakistan for backing the terror outfits, demanded justice and appealed to the UK to take diplomatic action on Islamabad.

"We support India because we face the same enemy: Islamist radicalisation. What happened in Pahalgam reminded us of the Hamas attack on Israel," said one of the Indo-Jewish protestors speaking to ANI.

Modi declares war on terrorism

The terror attack, which has drawn widespread condemnation from the world leaders, has led India and its arch-rival Pakistan to a fresh confrontation, a major one since the Pulwama terror attack which was backed by Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in 2019.

After several diplomatic strikes on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday promised a retaliation and said the terrorists and their backers will pay unimaginable costs for the attack on innocent tourists.

Addressing a rally in Bihar's Madhubani, the Prime Minister significantly switched to English and said: "From the soil of Bihar I tell the whole world that India will identify them and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the end of the earth. India's spirit will never be broken by terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished."

Pahalgam terror attack

Twenty-six tourists including 23 Hindus died after terrorists identified them as non-Muslims and gunned them down in Baisaran meadows, a popular destination in Pahalgam.

World leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, condemned the attack.

The terrorists, who were apparently in camouflage, reportedly asked the victims to chant Islamic verse, pull down their pants to check circumcision in a bid to confirm their Hindu identities before gunning them down.