“Any Pakistani national currently in India under SVES visa has 48 hours to leave the country.” That was foreign secretary Vikram Misri, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, one day after gunmen killed at least 26 people in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam. It was the sharpest of several measures New Delhi announced against Pakistan in a single evening.
The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the decisions. Misri said the committee “condemned the attack in the strongest terms” and offered “deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”
The measures
India put the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty on hold with immediate effect. Misri said it would stay that way “until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.”
The integrated check post at Attari was to close at once. Anyone who had crossed into India with valid papers has until 1 May to go back to Pakistan. All visas issued to Pakistanis under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation visa exemption scheme were revoked.
India also declared the defense, naval and air advisors at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata and gave them one week to leave. It will pull its own defense advisors from Islamabad. By 1 May, each High Commission is to shrink from 55 staff to 30.
The attack
Armed men in camouflage opened fire at about 3pm local time on Tuesday. Militants from The Resistance Front, described as an offshoot of the designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed the attack. Witnesses told reporters the attackers had allegedly asked victims their religion before shooting them. Most of the dead were tourists; one was a local man. A Nepali national was among them. It was one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Kashmir since the 1990s.
Authorities launched a manhunt, and Jammu and Kashmir police offered a bounty of Rs20 lakh for information leading to the attackers.
Modi wrote on X that “those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice.” Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said India would pursue not only the perpetrators but also “those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to commit such acts on the soil of India.” Misri said the Cabinet Committee on Security had told all forces to stay on high alert, and pointed to the recent extradition of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana as proof of India’s persistence.
Pakistan has denied any role. Its foreign ministry said earlier it was “concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives.” Pakistani officials were due to meet on Thursday to settle a response.
Sources
- In Pahalgam aftermath, India expels Pakistan diplomats, shuts Attari border
- India expels Pakistan diplomats and closes border crossing after deadly Kashmir attack
