Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the country's armed forces “operational freedom” to respond to last week's deadly attack in Kashmir, AFP quoted a senior government source as saying Tuesday, after New Delhi blamed it on chief rival Pakistan.

Modi told army and security chiefs at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that the armed forces had “full operational freedom to decide on the manner, objectives and timing of our response to the terrorist attack on civilians in Kashmir,” the source said.

Modi also said that India is “filled with national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism,” the source added.

Modi, the source added, expressed his “full faith in the professional capabilities of the Indian armed forces” and assured them of his government's full support.

Relations between the two neighboring countries deteriorated sharply after Pakistani militants attacked civilians in Indian Kashmir on April 22, killing 26 people. Islamabad rejected the accusation and since then the two countries have exchanged gunfights in Kashmir, diplomatic barbs, expelled citizens and ordered border closures.