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India Mounts Diplomatic Offensive : Suspends Indus Water Treaty, Closes Attari Border, Pak High Commission Staff Reduced
At a late evening media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, announcing the decisions, said the overall strength of the Pakistani and Indian high commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by May 1.
India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
A day after the brazen attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, firmed up five specific retaliatory measures against Pakistan, directed the security forces to maintain ‘high vigil’ and vowed to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
At a late evening media briefing as reported by PTI , Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, announcing the decisions, said the overall strength of the Pakistani and Indian high commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by May 1.
The foreign secretary said Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption scheme (SVES) and any Pakistani national currently in India under it SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India.
Misri said the cross-border linkages to the Pahalgam attack were “brought out” in a briefing to the CCS following which it decided to take the measures against Pakistan.
The new retaliatory actions shut down the few existing diplomatic mechanisms between the two sides taking bilateral relations to yet another new low.
The foreign secretary, announcing the five retaliatory measures, said that ‘the defence, military, naval and air advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared persona non grata’ and they have a week to leave India.
India will be withdrawing its own defence, navy and air advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, he said.
“These posts in the respective high commissions are deemed annulled. Five support staff of the service advisors will also be withdrawn from both high commissions,” he said.
Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and any such visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled, Misri said.
