After the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed the lives of 26, the Government of India decided to suspend the Indus Water Treaty. This decision, announced late on Wednesday, has drawn strong opposition from Pakistan, calling it an act of "water warfare" by a top minister from the country. The attack, which left many civilians dead in the well-known tourist destination, Kashmir, has once again raised the heat between the two nuclear powers.

The Foreign Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, said that the decision followed a briefing given to the Cabinet Committee on Security concerning the cross-border linkages behind the attack. The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, today is one of the few long-term agreements between India and Pakistan. In addition to just that treaty's suspension, India will also close the only functioning land entry point between those nations.

Protest by Pakistan

Late Wednesday night, Awais Lekhari, Pakistan's Power Minister, posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying,"India's reckless suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move". 

India's Diplomatic Steps and Political Response

Apart from suspending the treaty, India has taken a few other diplomatic initiatives. Misri announced that New Delhi would return its defense attaches from Pakistan and will from here on operate with about 30 staff at its Islamabad mission as opposed to the former 55. 

He further said that India called Pakistan's top diplomat in New Delhi so as to declare persona non grata all defense advisers in the Pakistani mission, giving them one week's notice to leave the country. 

An all-party meeting has been called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the government's strategy and response to the Pahalgam attack. The meeting will take place on Thursday evening and will include briefings by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, with Singh as chair. 

Meanwhile, Modi vowed on Thursday to punish all those responsible for the worst attack on civilians.

At a public meeting in Bihar yesterday, Modi said, "I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer," he said in his first speech since the attack in the Himalayan region. "We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth". He started his speech with two minutes of silence in memory of the victims, of whom 25 were from India and one a Nepali national.