India-Pakistan relations degrade after Kashmir terror attack

Pakistan on Thursday suspended all bilateral agreements with India, including their 1972 Simla Agreement to resolve disagreements through peaceful means. The now-suspended agreement also fixed the Line of Control in contested Kashmir. Pakistan also decided to close its airspace, suspend trade with India, cancel visas for Indians, and downgrade diplomatic relations during a morning meeting of the National Security Committee, The Hindu newspaper reported. Pakistan was ready to respond militarily to threats, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said Thursday. Tensions between the nuclear rivals increased this week in the wake of a Tuesday mass killing by Pakistan-based terrorists in Kashmir.

And what did India decide after the attack? Pakistan’s move came after Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri late on Wednesday announced sweeping changes to his country’s relations with Pakistan. Misri said India was suspending the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 until Pakistan ceased to support cross-border terrorism. The treaty, which survived at least three wars between India and Pakistan, divides six rivers in the Indus Basin between the two countries. Pakistan relies on those rivers for most of its water and was already facing a water crisis before the treaty’s suspension, according to media conglomerate India Today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet Committee on Security suspended the treaty after convening Wednesday to discuss links between the terrorists and Pakistan, Misri said.

What other retaliatory moves did India make? Misri also said India would revoke some types of visas for Pakistanis, requiring them to leave the country within 48 hours. The Indian government later canceled all types of visas for Pakistanis. India would also close its land border crossing with Pakistan, cut diplomatic staff, expel Pakistani military advisors, and recall their Indian counterparts, Misri said.

What happened in the Kashmir terrorist attack? Gunmen from the Pakistan-based terrorist group The Resistance Front on Tuesday attacked and killed civilians near the town of Pahalgam in Kashmir. They killed 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen, with many others injured, Misri said. The victims were mostly male tourists visiting a picturesque meadow. The terrorists were asking people to recite a statement of Islamic faith and shot those who could not do so, India Today reported.