Pakistan has issued retaliatory diplomatic measures against India over its response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Pakistan threatened to suspend all bilateral agreements with India, including the 1972 Simla Agreement, on Thursday, April 24, 2025, in a retaliatory move after India said that it would suspend the Indus Water Treaty and close the land border the day before.
The Simla Agreement was a peace accord signed by the two countries a few months after Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan.
Pakistan’s moves follow India’s response to Tuesday’s attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of at least 26 people.
Following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government announced a series of measures, including the suspension of the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty, a pact that allows both countries to irrigate their agricultural lands.
In a media conference, Indian Foreign Secretary ,Vikram Misri also announced the closure of the border with Pakistan, slashed the number of Indian diplomatic staff in Pakistan, ordered Pakistani citizens under the SAARC scheme to leave the country within 48 hours, and expelled Pakistani military attaches posted in India.
This response has been soundly interpreted as India blaming Pakistan for the attack in Kashmir.
In a communique issued following a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), Pakistan’s top civil-military decision-making body, Pakistan warned India that any disruption of its water supply would be considered “an act of war”, adding that it was prepared to respond, “with full force across the complete spectrum of national power.”
The NSC meeting, which took place today, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Islamabad, was led by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, alongside other government officials and chiefs of its military forces.
The NSC statement mirrored actions announced by India on Wednesday, and included the closure of the Wagah Border Post with “immediate effect”, the suspension and cancellation of SAARC visas for Indian nationals (excluding Sikh pilgrims), the designation of Indian defence advisors as personae non grata in Pakistan, a reduction in the staff of the Indian High Commission, the closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian airlines, and the suspension of all trade with India.
India’s Response To Pahalgam Attack Criticised
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister, called the Indian steps “immature and hasty” in a television interview.
“India has not given any evidence [of Pakistani involvement in the attack]. They have not shown any maturity in their response. This is not a serious approach. They started creating hype immediately after the incident.”
Ishaq Dar
Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif also rejected India’s implication of Pakistani involvement in the attack.
“India’s allegation against Pakistan for the Pahalgam incident is inappropriate. There should be no ambiguity that we strongly condemn terrorism.”
Khawaja Asif
Additionally, Salman Bashir, former Pakistani Envoy to New Delhi, told a news agency that he believes the decisions made by India’s Cabinet Committee on Security have been based on a “mistaken assumption” about Pakistan’s weakness.
“These connote a fight-to-the-finish syndrome, which is based on naivete and wishful thinking. But I expect a response from Pakistan which is mature and commensurate to the challenge posited by India.”
Salman Bashir
Bashir, who also served as Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary from 2008 to 2012, said that the Indian government may have considered military action, but the scale of such moves, given the history between the two countries, presents a dilemma.
The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between the two countries since they gained independence from British rule in 1947, with each country controlling parts of Kashmir but claiming it in full.
Since independence, the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought four wars, three of them over Kashmir.
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