Pakistan’s top security body will meet today to assess India’s slew of aggressive measures against the country — in the wake of an attack in India-held Kashmir that claimed over two dozen lives — and formulate a comprehensive policy reaction.
Yesterday, India shut borders, downgraded diplomatic ties and, in an unprecedented move, unilaterally announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty over what the BJP government and media claimed — without offering any evidence — was Islamabad’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has denied any role in the attack and offered condolences for the loss of lives.
Today, Indian media reported that the government has blocked the Pakistani government’s X account in the country and summoned the Pakistani charge d’affaires in New Delhi.
Among the Indian measures it announced yesterday, the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) stood out as the most severe. The 1960 pact, brokered by the World Bank, has endured through wars and decades of hostility. Its suspension, therefore, marked a watershed moment in the already fraught relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
India further downgraded diplomatic ties by closing down the main border transit point, framing the attack as a grave provocation that warranted significant diplomatic, economic, and logistical pressure on Pakistan. Indian officials directly tied these measures to Islamabad’s alleged support for “cross-border terrorism”.
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in India-occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.
“Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif has convened the meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Thursday morning, 24th April 2025, to respond to the Indian Government’s statement of this evening,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Appearing on a private television channel late last night, Dar lashed out at India’s approach, calling it “immature” and “hasty”.
“India has not given any evidence. They have not shown any maturity in their response,” Dar said. “This is a non-serious approach. They started creating hype immediately after the incident.”
The NSC meeting, chaired by PM Shehbaz, will “discuss in detail India’s irresponsible actions after Pahalgam false flag operation”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
The meeting will be attended by senior civil and military leadership to deliberate upon the “internal and external situation arisen after the Pahalgam false flag operation”, it added.
It will review the response to “India’s hastily taken, impulsive and impractical water measures”, the report said, referring to the IWT.
On the other hand, India has summoned Saad Ahmad Warraich, the top Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.
India’s PM Narendra Modi has also called for a multi-party meeting with opposition parties to brief them on the government’s response to the attack.
Amid rising tensions, India has withheld access to the official X account of the Government of Pakistan, NDTV reported.
Diplomatic observers warn that the Indian response and Pakistan’s counter-messaging could push bilateral relations to new lows, further widening a rift that has persisted since the 2019 Pulwama-Balakot crisis. The treaty suspension, in particular, risks sparking long-term water disputes, while the downgrading of diplomatic ties could hinder any future de-escalation efforts.
Analyst Michael Kugelman said the attack posed a “very serious risk of a new crisis between India and Pakistan, and probably the most serious risk of a crisis since the brief military conflict that happened in 2019”.
Kugelman called India’s actions “highly consequential retaliations”, highlighting that “in 2019, India threatened to suspend IWT but didn’t follow through”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office had yesterday expressed concern and condolences over the loss of tourists’ lives. The Indian government had vowed that a “loud and clear” response would be delivered to the attack.
Tuesday’s attack is seen as a setback to what Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have projected as a major achievement in revoking the special status occupied Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed and bringing peace and development to the long-troubled Muslim-majority region.
Saarc Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) had 48 hours to leave the country, while others could return by May 1; defence personnel at the Pakistani High Commission in India had a week to leave the country and staff at the high commissions would be reduced as well.
“The CCS was briefed in detail on the terrorist attack on 22 April 2025 in Pahalgam, in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were killed. A number of others sustained injuries. The CCS condemned the attack in the strongest terms and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and hoped for the early recovery of the injured,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a press conference after the CCS meeting.
The statement said: “Recognising the seriousness of this terrorist attack, the CCS decided upon the following measures,” detailing how the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance “with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.
“The Integrated Check Post Attari will be closed with immediate effect. Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before May 1, 2025,” it said.
Additionally, Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the Saarc visa scheme. “Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled. Any Pakistani national currently in India under SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India.”
Furthermore, defence attaches and advisers at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi had been declared ‘Persona Non Grata’ and given a week to leave India.
“India will be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisers from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad… The overall strength of the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions,” Misri said.
The statement also said that security forces had been put on high alert. “As with the recent extradition of Tahawwur Rana, India will be unrelenting in the pursuit of those who have committed acts of terror, or conspired to make them possible,” the foreign ministry statement said, referring to a suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
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