Key Points
- Pakistan has retaliated to a number of punitive diplomatic measures India placed on it this week.
- Pakistan says it's closing its airspace to Indian airlines, suspending trade and halting some visas.
- It comes after a deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-administered Kashmir by militants.
Pakistan has closed its airspace for Indian airlines and rejected India's suspension of a critical water-sharing treaty, in retaliation for India's response to a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The tit-for-tat announcements took relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought wars, to the lowest level in years.
The latest diplomatic crisis was triggered by the on Tuesday, in the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings.
India said there were cross-border elements to the attack and downgraded ties with Pakistan on Wednesday, suspending a 1960 treaty on sharing waters of the Indus River and closing the only land crossing between the neighbours.
Indian police published notices naming three suspects and saying two were Pakistanis, but India has not offered any proof of the links or shared any more details.
Diverting water an 'act of war'
On Thursday, Pakistan said it was closing its airspace to Indian-owned or operated airlines, suspending all trade, including through third countries and halting special South Asian visas issued to Indian nationals. The latter mimicked a decision India had made against Pakistani nationals.
Pakistan will also exercise the right to hold all bilateral accords with India, including the 1972 Simla Agreement, in suspension until India desists from "fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan", Pakistan's prime minister's office said in a statement.
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India launches sweeping diplomatic crackdown on Pakistan after attack in Kashmir
SBS News
06:12
The Simla Agreement was signed after the third war between the two countries and lays down principles meant to govern bilateral relations, including respect for a ceasefire line in Kashmir.
There was no immediate response from India to Pakistan's announcement.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been at the heart of the animosity between India and Pakistan, with both claiming it in full and ruling it in part. It has been the cause of two wars and has also witnessed a bloody insurgency against Indian rule.
Pakistan also said it "vehemently rejects" India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and said any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan would be considered an "act of war and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power".
The water treaty, mediated by the World Bank, split the Indus River and its tributaries between the neighbours and regulated the sharing of water. It had so far withstood even wars between the neighbours.
Pakistan is heavily dependent on water flowing downstream from this river system from India for its hydropower and irrigation needs. Suspending the treaty would allow India to deny Pakistan its share of the waters.
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Dozens of tourists gunned down in disputed region of Kashmir
SBS News
05:25
Narendra Modi pledges to punish attackers
Pakistan's response came hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue, track and punish the militants who separated the men among the tourists in Kashmir's Pahalgam area and shot them dead.
It also came after the Indian foreign ministry announced the suspension of all visa services to Pakistanis and revoked visas that had already been issued.
Ahead of his public speech at an event in the eastern state of Bihar, Modi folded his hands in prayer in remembrance of the men killed in Kashmir, exhorting thousands gathered at the venue to do the same.
"We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth," Modi said, without referring to the attackers' identities or naming Pakistan.
"They have made the mistake of attacking the soul of India. I want to say clearly, that those who have planned and carried out this attack will be punished beyond their imagination," he said to cheers from the crowd.
Modi called an all-party meeting with opposition parties later on Thursday to brief them on the government's response to the attack.
In New Delhi, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Pakistani embassy in the diplomatic enclave, shouting slogans and pushing against police barricades.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir since the uprising began in 1989, but it has tapered off in recent years and tourism has surged in the region.
