Pakistan has completely rejected the decision by India to hold the Indus Waters Treaty
Islamabad has announced a number of retaliatory measures, including closing the Wagah border, suspending all SAARC visas for Indian nationals, and closing its airspace for Indian airlines, a day after India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan in response to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Islamabad threatened to halt any bilateral agreements with India unless New Delhi stopped disregarding “international law and UN resolutions on Kashmir,” citing the Simla Agreement.
The action was taken less than 24 hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and reduced diplomatic ties on both sides as part of a five-pronged diplomatic response to the Pahalgam atrocity, one of the bloodiest civilian attacks in the Valley in recent memory.
Among the key decisions taken by Pakistan:
– Pakistan will close the Wagah border with immediate effect. It will suspend all transit from India through this route. Indian nationals who entered Pakistan through Wagah with valid endorsements must return by April 30.
– To put all bilateral agreements, including the Simla Agreement, on hold.
– Pakistan has cancelled all visas under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) issued to Indian nationals with immediate effect, except for Sikh religious pilgrims. It has asked Indians currently in Pakistan under the scheme to leave within 48 hours.
– Has closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines.
– Pakistan will suspend all trade with India, including via third countries.
– Pakistan has declared the Indian Defence, Naval, and Air Advisors in Islamabad persona non grata and has ordered them to leave the country by April 30. Their positions in the High Commission stand annulled.
– It will reduce the strength of India’s High Commission in Islamabad to 30 staff members by the end of the month.
The decision by India to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance was “vehemently rejected” by Pakistan, which called it a “binding international agreement brokered by the World Bank.”
The Pahalgam attack has been blamed on Islamabad by India, which has repeatedly pulled up Pakistan in the past for being a safe haven for terrorists. The allegations have been called “frivolous, devoid of rationality” by Pakistan.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.