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India suspends water treaty with Pakistan, asks Pakistani diplomats to leave in a week

The attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir on Tuesday resulted in 28 fatalities and left 17 injured.

The Statesman

The Statesman

    

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In this handout picture released by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a meeting of Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council held in Jeddah April 22, 2025. PHOTO: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/AFP

April 24, 2025

NEW DELHI – The Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday decided to rescind the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation visas of Pakistani nationals and suspend the Indus water treaty.

The CCS that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliberate on follow-up actions on the audacious attack on tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on Tuesday also decided to withdraw defence staff from Pakistan High Commission and has classified Pakistani diplomats as persona non grata asking them to leave the country within a week. “Pakistani diplomats have been classified as persona non grata and have been asked to leave the country within a week,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said after the CCS meeting.

The Cabinet panel also decided to close the Atari border.

The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security was held on Wednesday to assess and deliberate on follow-up actions on the audacious attack on tourists at Baisaan meadow in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on Tuesday.

The attack resulted in 28 fatalities and left 17 injured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia to return to Delhi on Wednesday, presided over the meeting that was attended by committee members Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh were also present in the meeting.

Home Minister Amit Shah, who flew to Srinagar on Tuesday evening, also held a series of meetings with top Army brass, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Nalin Prabhat, and CRPF DG Gyanendra Pratap Singh.

Earlier in the day, Modi held a meeting with NSA Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take stock of the situation.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also chaired a separate meeting with NSA Ajit Doval, Air Force’s Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, and other officials and discussed the security situation in the region. “I want to assure the countrymen that the government will take every necessary step. We will not only reach the perpetrators of this act but also the actors behind the scenes. The accused will soon see a loud and clear response, I want to assure the country,” the defence minister said.

Home Minister Shah, who took an aerial stock of the region on Wednesday, also visited the affected area of Baisaran meadow where the attack had taken place.

The National Investigation Agency team also visited the attack site to support the Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) Police in probing the attack. It was one of the biggest terror attacks in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

The case is likely to be handed over to the NIA (National Investigation Agency) for investigation.

Analysing the barbaric incident, security sources said the attack by the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba’s affiliate The Resistance Front (TF) was meant to create communal divide within the Union Territory and pull the region back into a situation where the Kashmiris are forced to rely on the terror economy for their survival and become a fodder for the Pakistan-based ISI to create mayhem that defined pre-abrogation of Article 370 era.

The attack is seen as an attempt to challenge the narrative that democracy is back in Jammu and Kashmir, schools and colleges were running normally like elsewhere in the country, investments were coming into the UT even from abroad, cinema halls had opened and people, especially women, were seen enjoying late night outings in Srinagar.

According to reports, victims of the terror attack recounted how armed terrorists did head hunting and fired indiscriminately for about 20 minutes at tourists enjoying from across the country and outside their holidays.

Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh assured of not only tracing those who perpetrated the attack but also trace those conspired to commit this nefarious act on our soil. “I assure countrymen that in view of the Pahalgam incident, the government will take every step that is necessary and appropriate, ” he added.

He asserted that every citizen of India is united against this cowardly act.”I would like to reiterate India’s firm resolve that we have a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism,” he said.

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