A Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot, The Resistance Front, claimed responsibility for the attack, which left 25 Indian and one Nepali citizen dead, and 17 others injured.
Published Apr 23, 2025 | 10:32 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 23, 2025 | 10:32 PM
Foreign Secretary of India Vikram Misri
Synopsis: The Centre has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and imposed stringent diplomatic measures against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terrorist attack on Tuesday that claimed 26 lives. The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Modi, announced the actions after The Resistance Front, a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot, claimed responsibility for the assault. In addition to expelling diplomats and revoking visas to Pakistani citizens, security forces have been placed on high alert.
The Union government has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and imposed sweeping diplomatic restrictions on Pakistan in response to a deadly terrorist attack that killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday, 22 April.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the measures after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met on Wednesday evening.
A Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot, The Resistance Front, claimed responsibility for the attack, which left 25 Indian and one Nepali citizen dead, and 17 others injured.
Misri said the CCS strongly condemned the “heinous” attack and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.
“As with the recent extradition of Tahawwur Rana, India will be unrelenting in the pursuit of those who have committed acts of terror or conspired to make them possible,” he said.
Among the diplomatic steps announced:
The CCS also placed all Indian security forces on high alert, vowing to bring the perpetrators and their backers to justice.
The attack took place on the afternoon of 22 April, when three armed militants opened fire on tourists at the popular Baisaran meadow, five kilometres from Pahalgam. The assault is the deadliest in the region in recent years and sparked widespread outrage across the country.
Victims included a newlywed Navy officer, an Indian Air Force (IAF) official, and civilians from over a dozen Indian states, including three from Karnataka and one from Kerala.
Wednesday saw a rare total shutdown in Kashmir as residents observed a hartal in solidarity with the victims. Several local newspapers published their front pages in stark reverse print, decrying the assault as a tragedy that has shaken the Valley.
Political leaders from across the spectrum, including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, called for national unity and a firm response.
“This is a direct attack on India’s integrity,” Kharge said, urging the government to act swiftly and seek a bipartisan strategy to counter terrorism.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
