The world on the brink of a new war

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan are moving closer to a military conflict after Islamabad closed its airspace to Indian planes and warned that any attempt by Delhi to disrupt water supplies under a centuries-old contract would be considered an act of war.

In a series of escalating actions following the massacre of Indian tourists in the disputed Kashmir region earlier this week, India ordered its citizens to return from Pakistan, while Pakistan expelled a number of Indian diplomats.

Tensions have risen rapidly between the two rivals after the killing of 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali national on Tuesday, the worst attack on civilians in the troubled region for years, prompted India to renew accusations against Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism", a claim Pakistan denies.

“Pakistan declares Indian defence, naval and air advisers in Islamabad persona non grata. They have been asked to leave Pakistan immediately. Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and the security of its people will be met with strong reciprocal measures in all areas,” said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee. It was also announced that visas issued to Indian nationals would be cancelled.

It also ordered the closure of borders, the cancellation of trade and the closure of airspace for airlines controlled or operated by India, it writes. Aljazeera.

"India has taken inappropriate steps and made baseless allegations," Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Dunya News television channel.

Dar added that "any kinetic step (military action) by India would trigger a kinetic response" from Pakistan, briefly recalling the events of February 2019, when a suicide car attack in Kashmir brought the two countries to the brink of war.

However, the harshest language was directed at India's decision to suspend an ancient Indus Waters Treaty - one of the world's most enduring water-sharing agreements, which is essential to Pakistan's agriculture.

"Any attempt to stop or redirect the flow of water that belongs to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty... will be considered an act of war and we will respond with full force across the spectrum of national power," Islamabad announced today.

India suspended the deal on Wednesday, when it also accused Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties with its neighbor through a series of diplomatic measures. Pakistan denied any role in the attack.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue those responsible for Tuesday's attack to the end.

Read too At least five killed after gunmen open fire on a group of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir

Twenty-six men were killed in the tourist resort of Pahalgam, in the deadliest attack on civilians in the disputed Muslim-majority territory since 2000.

"I am telling the whole world: India will identify, pursue and punish every terrorist and his aide," Modi said in his first speech after the attack.

India's Foreign Ministry summoned the top Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi, Saad Ahmad Warraich, the chief of mission at the Pakistani Embassy, ​​on Wednesday evening, according to diplomatic sources and local media reports.

India has already closed the key land border with Pakistan and banned the entry of Pakistani nationals through the visa waiver program.

Police in Kashmir on Thursday named three suspected militants believed to be involved in the attack and offered rewards for information leading to their arrest. Two of them are Pakistani nationals, the reports said.

Modi called a meeting of opposition political parties on Thursday to brief them on the government's response to the attack.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both countries claiming rights over the entire Himalayan territory but administering separate parts of it.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, regulates the sharing of the waters. So far, it has remained intact, despite wars between neighbors.

India will keep the agreement in a state of freeze, said the country's Foreign Minister, Vikram Misri.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were weak even before the announcement of the latest measures, after Pakistan expelled the Indian envoy and said it would not appoint a high commissioner to Delhi when India revoked Kashmir's semi-autonomous status in 2019. /Telegraph/

BIG: India has formally blocked the flow of the Indus River into Pakistan by closing all four gates controlling water via dams and canals.

Pakistan has previously warned that such a blockade would be seen as an act of war. pic.twitter.com/jSFs8U78mH

- Clash Report (@clashreport) April 24, 2025