Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday.
Staff Reporter / New Delhi
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India on Wednesday sent out a calculated response to Pakistan by suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, downgrading its diplomatic ties by calling back the diplomats and also reducing the number of staff members at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi from 55 to 30.
In response to the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned to India on Wednesday morning after cutting short his state visit to Saudi Arabia, chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out, said a government statement.
“It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in the Union Territory and its steady progress towards economic growth and development,” it added.
Following a two-hour meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addressed the media and outlined several decisive steps taken in response to the attack. He said that these measures reflect the seriousness of the situation and India’s zero-tolerance approach to terrorism.
The CCS recommended five actions against Pakistan
- The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism, said the statement.
- The Integrated Check Post Attari will be closed with immediate effect. Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before 01 May 2025.
- Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas. Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled. Any Pakistani national currently in India under SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India.
- The Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared Persona Non Grata. They have a week to leave India. India will be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. These posts in the respective High Commissions are deemed annulled. Five support staff of the Service Advisors will also be withdrawn from both High Commissions.
- The overall strength of the high commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be affected by 01 May 2025.
“Given the severity of the recent attack, India appears to be looking for ways to reconfigure the deterrence framework with Pakistan, and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty should be seen in that light. The IWT has long been viewed as a potential flashpoint between the states, and India appears to have decided, finally, that enough is enough as it explores all options on how to respond to the attack,” said Harsh V Pant, Vice-President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation.
Terror attack in Kashmir’s tourist hotspot Pahalgam
On Monday evening (April 22), gunmen opened fire in the meadow of Baisaran, a popular tourist destination near Pahalgam in Kashmir. Witness accounts indicate that the assailants questioned visitors about their religion before targeting the men and shooting them at close range.