Pahalgam attack fallout: India suspends Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, shuts Wagah-Attari border
NEW DELHI, APR 23 : India on Wednesday announced immediate suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and closure of the Wagah-Attari border crossing, in response to the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people a day earlier.
The decision came after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri detailed the government’s response to the attack, which the CCS strongly condemned.
“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… The CCS recorded its appreciation for such sentiments, which reflect zero tolerance for terrorism,” Misri said.
Misri announced that the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, would take immediate effect. “Recognising the seriousness of this terrorist attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security decided upon the following measures. 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,” he said.
As part of broader diplomatic and security actions, India also ordered the expulsion of Pakistani diplomats.
“The Defence, Military, Naval, and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared persona non grata. They have a week to leave India,” Misri added.
India will also withdraw its own military advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
India further announced that all Pakistani nationals with SAARC visas would be required to leave within 48 hours.
“Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas. Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled,” Misri said.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses the media, announcing India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, in New Delhi on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
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The government also decided to shut the Wagah-Attari border, the only road crossing between the two countries open to passengers.
“The integrated checkpost Attari will be closed with immediate effect. Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before 1st May 2025,” Misri said.
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed on September 19, 1960, allocated the western rivers—Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—to Pakistan and the eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—to India.
The Wagah-Attari border, which serves as a symbolic and functional link for limited trade and people-to-people exchanges, will now be closed as part of the new measures.
Terrorists opened fire in Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike. The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.
-PTI
