In the wake of the devastating terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 individuals, tensions between India and Pakistan have reached a critical point. In a series of strong countermeasures, India has taken significant diplomatic and strategic steps, the most immediate being the withholding of the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the Government of Pakistan within Indian territory.
As per ANI, users attempting to access the handle @GovtofPakistan from India are met with a message stating the account has been “withheld in response to a legal demand.”
A high-level Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting was convened immediately after the attack. Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with other top officials, the government reviewed the situation and approved a slew of stern measures.
One of the most consequential decisions to emerge from the CCS meeting is the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 — a decades-old agreement between India and Pakistan on the sharing of the Indus river system. The treaty will be held in abeyance until such time that Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” renounces its backing of cross-border terrorism, ANI reports.
Additionally, India has decided to shut down the integrated Attari Check Post with immediate effect, effectively halting any formal land-based exchanges between the two nations.
Visas issued under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) have been revoked, and Islamabad has been formally instructed to withdraw its personnel from India within 48 hours. Further diplomatic downsizing was also announced: India declared the Defence, Naval, and Air Advisors at the Pakistani High Commission as persona non grata, requiring them to exit the country within a week.
India will simultaneously withdraw its own military advisors from its High Commission in Islamabad. As per ANI, five additional support staff attached to these defence posts will also return, as both sides reduce their high commission strength from 55 to 30, effective 1 May 2025.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in a press briefing following the CCS meeting, laid out these decisions in detail. Misri stressed that India’s response comes in the interest of national security and in pursuit of long-term peace, should Pakistan cease harbouring terrorism on its soil.
(With inputs from ANI)
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