Pakistan announces diplomatic, trade measures against India as ties plummet

Reuters

Pakistan shut the Wagah border, expelled Indian defence attachés and warned of war over water on Friday after rejecting India’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty.

“The treaty was brokered by the World Bank and contains no clause for a one-sided suspension,” Foreign Office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan told reporters. “Water is the lifeline of our 240 million people and its flow will be protected at all costs.”

Khan said Islamabad is closing the Wagah land crossing “with immediate effect,” halting all transit from India. Travelers who entered Pakistan legally via Wagah must depart by 30 April, he added. All SAARC visa-exemption permits granted to Indian nationals are cancelled, except for Sikh pilgrims, who may remain.

Pakistan also declared India’s defence, naval and air attachés in Islamabad persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country by the end of the month.

The decisions follow India’s announcement this week that it would place the Indus treaty “in abeyance” after New Delhi closed the Attari-Wagah corridor and downgraded diplomatic ties amid a surge in cross-border tension.

Khan said Pakistan’s National Security Committee met earlier on Friday and affirmed that the armed forces are “fully capable and prepared” to defend the country, citing the military’s measured response to India’s air strike in February 2019 as proof of its readiness.

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