India summoned Pakistan’s senior-most diplomat in New Delhi, a day after it announced the suspension of a key water-sharing treaty.
India’s move comes a day after suspected militants killed 26 men in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The attack, which took place at a popular tourist destination in Baisaran near Pahalgam in Anantnag district, is the deadliest in nearly two decades targeting civilians in the region.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the attack involved cross-border elements and confirmed a series of diplomatic downgrades, including the closure of the only land crossing with Pakistan and the withdrawal of India’s defence attachés from Islamabad.
India has also declared Pakistan’s defence advisers in New Delhi persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country within a week.
The Indus Water Treaty (IWT), brokered by the World Bank in 1960, had survived multiple wars and decades of hostility. Misri said India would now hold the treaty “in abeyance”.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has scheduled to chair a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) today to discuss a coordinated response, according to Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have remained high since India revoked the special status of IIOJK in 2019.
Pakistan subsequently expelled India’s envoy and has not posted an ambassador in New Delhi since.
