India on Wednesday suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and closed the Wagah-Attari border crossing, following a 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, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the measures, describing them as part of a broader set of diplomatic and security responses.
All defence, naval, military, and air advisors from the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi have been declared persona non grata and will have to leave in a week. Also, high commissions of both countries will have to be downsized with only 30 personnel by May 1, Misri announced.
India also rescinded SAARC visas issued to Pakistani nationals and instructed those currently in the country to leave within 48 hours.
The treaty, signed on September 19, 1960, in Karachi by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan, allocates the western rivers—Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—to Pakistan, and the eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—to India.
The Wagah-Attari border, the only road crossing between the two countries open to passengers, serves as both a symbolic and functional link for limited trade and cross-border travel.
