Pahalgam terror: Pak cries foul on Indus waters, shuts airspace, trade routes
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After unsuccessfully denying its role in the terror attack and massacres of 26 tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s retaliatory diplomatic moves, broke-and-failed state of Pakistan on Thursday feebly tried to do something as drastic—it closed its airspace for Indian aviation and shut trade routes!
It had to put up some show for domestic consumption as these two measures mean little.
Then it “rejected” the real Indian action: diverting the Indus waters.
In fact, as summer soars, Islamabad is mighty worried about India potentially diverting the Indus waters.
On Thursday, Islamabad rejected this Indian decision, calling the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), 1960, a “lifeline” for its 240 million citizens and warned that any disruption would be considered an “act of war.”
The media reported that Islamabad blocked its airspace for India’s airlines, closed the Wagah border crossing near Amritsar, suspended all trade with India, and said any attempt to divert water meant for Pakistan under the IWD will be considered an Act of War.
These announcements were made after an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to formulate the country’s response to India’s move to suspend the IWT and downgrade diplomatic ties after the Pahalgam terror attack.
The meeting was attended by key ministers and the three services chiefs.
“Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains. India should refrain from its reflexive blame game and cynical stage-managed exploitation of incidents like Pahalgam to further its narrow political agenda.
“Such tactics serve only to inflame tensions and obstruct the path to peace and stability in the region,” according to a statement released after the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting.
The meeting decided to block Pakistani airspace for Indian airlines and close the Wagah border crossing.
A decision was also taken to suspend visas under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme to Indians, barring Sikh pilgrims.
Pakistan suspended “all trade” with India, including those routes through third countries.
It also asked military advisers at the Indian High Commission to leave by April 30, it said.
