Pakistan closes air space for Indian airlines, warns against water treaty violation
Pakistan closed its air space for Indian airlines and rejected New Delhi’s suspension of a critical water sharing treaty in retaliation for India’s response to a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir, Reuters reported.
The tit-for-tat announcements took relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought three wars, to the lowest level in years.
The latest diplomatic crisis was triggered by the killing of 26 men at a popular tourist destination in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday, in the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings.
New Delhi said there were cross-border elements to the attack and downgraded ties with Pakistan on Wednesday, suspending a 1960 treaty on sharing waters of the Indus River and closing the only land crossing between the neighbors.
Indian police published notices naming three suspects and saying two were Pakistanis, but New Delhi has not offered any proof of the links or shared any more details.
On Thursday, Pakistan said it was closing its airspace to Indian-owned or operated airlines, suspending all trade, including through third countries, and halting special South Asian visas issued to Indian nationals.
Islamabad will also exercise the right to hold all bilateral accords with India, including the 1972 Simla Agreement, in abeyance until New Delhi desists from “fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan”, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
The Simla Agreement was signed after the third war between the two countries and lays down principles meant to govern bilateral relations, including respect for a ceasefire line in Kashmir.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to Pakistan’s announcement.
Pakistan’s dollar-denominated government bonds dropped more than 4 cents on Thursday as the tensions escalated.
Islamabad also said it “vehemently rejects” India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and said that any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan would be considered an “act of war and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power.””
The water treaty, mediated by the World Bank, split the Indus River and its tributaries between the neighbours and regulated water sharing. It had so far withstood even wars between the neighbors.
Pakistan is heavily dependent on water flowing downstream from this river system from India for its hydropower and irrigation needs. Suspending the treaty would allow India to deny Pakistan its share.
Pakistan’s response came hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue, track, and
punish the militants who separated the men among the tourists in Kashmir’s Pahalgam area and shot them dead.
It also came after the Indian foreign ministry announced the suspension of all visa services to Pakistanis and revoked visas that had already been issued.
Ahead of his public speech at an event in the eastern state of Bihar, Modi folded his hands in prayer in remembrance of the men killed in Kashmir, exhorting thousands gathered at the venue to do the same.
“We will pursue them to the ends of the earth,” Modi said, without referring to the attackers’ identities or naming Pakistan.
“They have made the mistake of attacking the soul of India. I want to say clearly, that those who have planned and carried out this attack will be punished beyond their imagination,” Modi said to cheers from the crowd.
Modi has called an all-party meeting with opposition parties later on Thursday to brief them on the government’s response to the attack.
In New Delhi, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Pakistani embassy in the diplomatic enclave, shouting slogans and pushing against police barricades.
Local media reported that a film that starred Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in the lead with Bollywood actor Vaani Kapoor will now not be released in India, citing federal Information Ministry sources.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were weak even before the latest measures were announced as Pakistan had expelled India’s envoy and not posted its own ambassador in New Delhi after India revoked the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir in 2019.
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 Jammu and Kashmir state enjoyed and bringing peace and development to the region.