India Puts Indus Water Treaty in Abeyance for Pahalgam Attack

Spread love

India Shuts Down Attar Border Crossing, Scales Down High Commission Strength with Pakistan

By TRH News Desk

New Delhi, April 23, 2025: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi established cross-border linkages to the Pahalgam terror attack. The CCS decided to put the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, while also closing the Attari Border.

Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said: “The CCS was given briefing on the cross-border linkages to the Pahalgam terror attack. The CCS decided on measures which will come in effect immediately,” said Misri.

“The first decision is to keep the Indus Water Treat in abeyance till Pakistan completely abjures sponsorship of terrorism,” said Misri. He added that the Attari Border will be closed down.

The Pakistani nationals who have crossed the Attari Border have 48-hour to return to their country, said Misri. He also announced that the officials from Defence, Air, and Navy at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are now persona non grata. “India will also be withdrawing its officials from the High Commission in Pakistan,” said Misri.

The Foreign Secretary also announced that the CCS decided to scale down the strength of the High Commission from the current 55 to 30. The officials in the Pakistani High Commission have 48-hour to return to Pakistan.

Under the SAARC arrangement, India will no more issue vias to Pakistani nationals. Misri said that the Pakistani nationals who have come to India with such visa have time till May 1 to return to their country.

Misri also informed that the CCS has asked the defence forces to maintain high level of vigilance.

Indus Water Treaty dates back to 1960. It survived major conflicts between the two nations. The treaty sets mechanism for the distribution of the Indus water between India and Pakistan.

Eighty per cent of the Indus Water goes down to Pakistan as a lower riparian beneficiary nation. India’s former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal yesterday demanded that India should suspend the Indus Water Treaty.

Pakistan’s Punjab province, which is a wheat bowl, is dependent on Indus waters for agriculture. If the water flow is drastically curtailed, Punjab in Pakistan may stare at stiff irrigation challenges. Pakistan is a wheat consuming nation.

Also, the shutting down of the Attari Border further puts the lid on the people to people contact between the two nations. The CCS decisions almost put Pakistan in a category of an unfriendly nation.

Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn