Bangladesh, April 27 -- In an emotional address to the nation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to deliver the “harshest response” to the perpetrators of a deadly terrorist attack that shook Kashmir earlier this week, leaving 26 civilians dead. As India mourns the loss of life, political and military tensions with neighboring Pakistan have rapidly escalated, raising fears of a wider conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Speaking during his monthly “Mann Ki Baat” radio program on April 27, Modi did not hide his anguish over the bloodshed in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination in the southern part of Kashmir Valley. He described the attack – in which gunmen opened fire on a group of d...