Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 23: In a dramatic escalation of its response to the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 people including one foreign national, the Government of India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, ending decades of water-sharing cooperation between the two nations. The move comes after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the country’s highest decision-making body on national security, reviewed detailed findings of the investigation that exposed cross-border involvement in the attack.
Announcing the decision, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said that the CCS took the matter with the utmost seriousness and decided to take firm measures in response to what was described as a blatant act of terror sponsored from across the border. The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is being viewed as the boldest diplomatic move yet by India in response to terrorism originating from Pakistan. Signed in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, the treaty had survived the wars of 1965, 1971, and even the Kargil conflict in 1999. But the attack in Pahalgam, claimed by The Resistance Front a proxy of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba has triggered unprecedented action.
India will now halt the flow of water from the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, cutting off a vital supply line that sustains millions in Pakistan. This comes at a time when Pakistan is already grappling with what experts describe as an impending water crisis, fueled by climate change, population pressure and mismanagement.
The government has also ordered the closure of the Attari-Wagah Integrated Check Post for cross-border travel. Pakistani nationals will no longer be allowed to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme, and any visas already issued under this programme have been cancelled. Individuals currently in India on these special exemptions have been asked to leave within 48 hours.
Diplomatic ties are also being scaled back. The naval and air advisers at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi have been declared persona non grata and asked to leave India within a week. India will withdraw its corresponding defense officials from Islamabad, and the overall staff strength at both High Commissions will be reduced to 30 from the current 55 by May 1.
Foreign secretary Misri stated that the government had taken these steps after a detailed review of the national security situation and added that all security forces had been instructed to remain on high alert. He reiterated the government’s resolve to bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice and pointed to India’s recent success in extraditing Tahawwur Rana as proof of its international diplomatic resolve.
Union water resources minister C R Paatil backed the decision, saying the move was consistent with previous warnings issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. He said that this time, the perpetrators would not be spared and called the suspension of the treaty a ‘very good decision.’
India’s decision is expected to trigger a sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has in the past stated that any attempt to disrupt the treaty would be treated as an act of war. The treaty had long been held up as a model of cooperation even amid hostility. But officials said that the time had come for strong measures, with Misri stating that India cannot remain passive when its citizens are attacked and its sovereignty challenged.
The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is a turning point in India-Pakistan relations and signals a firm new posture by New Delhi one that prioritises national security over diplomatic restraint in the face of terrorism.