Pakistan on Thursday announced the immediate closure of its airspace to all Indian-owned and Indian-operated airlines, reported Reuters. Pakistan also suspended all trade with India, including goods passing through Pakistan to or from third countries, Hindu Times reports.
It also suspended all trade with India, including goods passing through Pakistan to or from third countries and objected to India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, the report added.
The Pakistan government has said that any move to obstruct or redirect the flow of water allocated to Pakistan, or any violation of its rights as a lower riparian state, will be treated as “an act of war.”
Pakistan has also directed Indian military advisers at its High Commission to leave by April 30, reported PTI.
India on Wednesday announced a series of measures to downgrade its ties with Pakistan, a day after terrorists killed 26 men at a popular tourist destination in Kashmir, marking the deadliest attack on civilians in the country in nearly two decades.
Meanwhile, India closed a major land border crossing with Pakistan on Thursday (April 24) after suspected militants killed 26 men at a tourist destination in Kashmir, Reuters reports.
The Integrated check post at northern Attari-Wagah border, also known for its daily flag-lowering ceremony held by cross border security forces, was closed on Thursday as part of India’s “retaliatory measures” against Pakistan following Tuesday’s (April 22) deadly attack. New Delhi announced a raft of measures to downgrade its ties with Pakistan and has summoned the top Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi.
India will also pull out its defence attaches in Pakistan and reduce staff size at its mission in Islamabad to 30 from 55, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced.
Tuesday's incident is the deadliest attack on civilians in India in nearly two decades, and is seen as a setback to what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have projected as a major achievement in revoking the special status Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed and bringing peace and development to the long-troubled Muslim-majority region.
