India, April 23 -- Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said India has a "zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism and the government will take "every necessary and appropriate step" to bring the perpetrators to book.

"And we will not only trace those who perpetrated this incident. We will also reach out to those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to carry out the nefarious act on the soil of India," he said, speaking at the Arjan Singh Memorial Lecture.

The minister called the terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam as "extremely inhuman" that has "left all of us in deep grief and pain".

On Tuesday terrorists killed 26 people and injured at least 10 others in Baisaran in Pahalgam.

"Yesterday, in Pahalgam, in a co...