Pakistan on Thursday “vehemently rejected” India’s decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 as a retaliatory measure to the deadly militant attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Following a National Security Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to formulate the country’s response to India’s measures, Pakistan stated that the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty would block the “lifeline for 240 million Pakistanis.””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 staged, managed exploitation of incidents like Pahalgam to further its narrow political agenda,” the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.”Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an Act of War and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of National Power,” the statement said. In another significant announcement, Pakistan said it “shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement in abeyance till India desists from its manifested behaviour of fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan; trans-national killings; and non-adherence to international law and UN Resolutions on Kashmir.”Islamabad also blocked the airspace for Indian airlines and closed the Wagah border crossing, in a tit for tat response to India’s measures a day before. It also suspended ‘all trade’ routes with India, including those through third countries. “Pakistan shall close down the Wagah Border Post, with immediate effect. All cross-border transit from India through this route shall be suspended, without exception. Those who have crossed with valid endorsements may return through that route immediately but not later than 30 April 2025,” the statement read.
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