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Modi Vows Strong Action Following Deadly Kashmir Attack
SRINAGAR, India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed to rigorously pursuing and penalizing terrorists and their supporters in a robust response to a recent lethal attack on tourists in Kashmir, which police have indicated involved Pakistani gunmen.
During a speech in Bihar, Modi paid tribute to the 26 individuals who lost their lives in a shooting incident in the Pahalgam area of Indian-administered Kashmir, encouraging the large audience to join him in a moment of silence. “We will pursue them to the ends of the earth,” Modi asserted, alluding to the assailants without naming them or directly referencing Pakistan.
His remarks are expected to exacerbate already tense relations between India and Pakistan, particularly after India’s decision to downgrade diplomatic ties by suspending a longstanding water agreement and closing their only land border crossing.
In response, Pakistan’s Power Minister Awais Lekhari described the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which governs water sharing between the two nations, as “an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move.”
Local police in Kashmir have released details naming three suspected militants linked to the attack and have offered rewards for information that could lead to their capture. Of these suspects, two have been identified as Pakistani nationals, although the methods of their identification were not disclosed.
The disputed region of Kashmir remains a significant point of contention, with both India and Pakistan claiming full sovereignty over it, though they each manage separate areas. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri noted that the cabinet committee on security had been informed about the cross-border connections related to this attack, the deadliest against civilians in nearly 20 years.
Misri did not provide specific evidence to support these claims but indicated that India would withdraw its defense advisers from Pakistan and would reduce its diplomatic staff in Islamabad significantly. In a further measure, India summoned the senior diplomat from the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi, declaring all defense personnel there to be unwelcome and granting them a week to depart.
In light of the attack, Modi has called for an all-party meeting to update opposition leaders on the government’s strategic response.
Protests Erupt at Pakistani Embassy
On Thursday, a large crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi, where they chanted slogans and confronted police barricades.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif plans to convene a National Security Committee meeting to formulate a response to India’s recent actions, as stated by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on social media.
The Indus Waters Treaty, which was established in 1960 with the assistance of the World Bank, has historically governed the distribution of water from the Indus River system. It has endured through multiple conflicts and various periods of tension between the two nations.
Even prior to this escalation, India-Pakistan diplomatic relations had soured significantly; Pakistan had expelled the Indian envoy, and India had not appointed an ambassador to Islamabad following the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.
The recent attack poses a significant setback to the narrative promoted by Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which had heralded the revocation of Kashmir’s special status as a means to enhance peace and foster development in the predominantly Muslim region.
India regularly accuses Pakistan of supporting insurgencies in Kashmir, while Islamabad maintains that it only extends diplomatic and moral support for self-determination efforts. The conflict in Kashmir has resulted in numerous fatalities since the 1989 uprising; however, violence has diminished in recent years, leading to a boost in tourism in the picturesque area.
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