Islamabad (National Times): Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan over the recent Pahalgam terrorist attack, which claimed over 27 lives, Islamabad on Thursday unveiled a series of stern reprisals against India, ordering the immediate shutdown of its airspace to all Indian-owned and -operated carriers and halting bilateral trade in every form. These measures follow New Delhi’s own diplomatic sanctions announced just a day earlier.
According to Islamabad’s official communiqué:
- Pakistani airspace is off‑limits to any Indian‑flagged or -operated aircraft.
- All trade between the two countries—and shipments in transit via Pakistan—has been suspended indefinitely.
- The Wagah border crossing will no longer admit any traffic from India.
- India’s SAARC visa exemption for its citizens, including Sikh pilgrims, is revoked.
- Military advisers at India’s High Commission in Islamabad have been instructed to depart by April 30.
- Any perceived threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty or security “will be met with firm, reciprocal measures in all domains.”
- Islamabad reserves the right to put all bilateral agreements, including the 1972 Simla Accord, “in abeyance.”
Pakistan also condemned India’s move to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty—vital to its irrigation and water supply—warning that any “obstruction or redirection” of the rivers guaranteed under the pact would be treated as “an act of war” against its 240 million citizens.
Together, these tit‑for‑tat decisions have ushered in one of the most serious rifts in recent Indo‑Pak relations, with both sides crippling cross‑border links and trading infrastructure in retaliation.
