ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Security Committee tomorrow, Thursday, the government announced, after New Delhi announced a raft of measures to downgrade its ties with the neighbor following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The shooting, the deadliest attack on non-combatants in Kashmir in decades, occurred Tuesday afternoon in Pahalgam, a popular resort town in the Anantnag district, where armed men emerged from forest cover and opened fire on crowds of mostly domestic tourists. A little-known militant group, the “Kashmir Resistance,” claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. Indian security agencies say Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, is a front for Pakistan-based militant organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, which both claim it fully but rule it in part, and has been plagued by years of insurgent violence that New Delhi says is supported by Islamabad. Pakistan denies the accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.
Such attacks have historically strained ties between India and Pakistan. In 2019, a suicide bombing in Pulwama killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and triggered cross-border air strikes, pushing the neighbors to the brink of war.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened the meeting of the National Security Committee on Thursday morning … to respond to the Indian government’s statement,” Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on X.
The announcement comes after Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing that the cross-border linkages of the attack had been “brought out” at a special meeting of the security cabinet, after which it was decided to act against Pakistan.
He said New Delhi would suspend with immediate effect the Indus Water Treaty that allows for sharing the waters of the Indus river system between the two countries. The defense advisers in the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi were declared persona non grata and asked to leave within a week, Misri said, adding that the overall strength of the Indian high commission in Islamabad will be reduced to 30 from 55.
A main border crossing check post between the two countries would be closed with immediate effect, and Pakistani nationals would not be allowed to travel to India under special visas, Misri said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia after the attack, called it a “heinous act” and pledged justice against the perpetrators.
The Pakistan army has not yet responded to the Indian measures.
A violent separatist insurgency has simmered in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir since the late 1980s, although militant violence had declined in recent years.
PARTITION AND ACCESSION
After partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Kashmir was expected to go to Pakistan, as other Muslim majority regions did. Its Hindu ruler wanted to stay independent but, faced with an invasion by Muslim tribesmen from Pakistan, acceded to India in October 1947 in return for help against the invaders.
GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHICS
Kashmir ended up divided among Hindu-majority India, which governs the Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh; Muslim-majority Pakistan, which controls Azad Kashmir (“Free Kashmir“) and the Northern Areas, and China, which holds Aksai Chin.
Indian-administered Kashmir has a population of around 7 million, of whom nearly 70 percent are Muslim.
ARTICLE 370
This provision of the Indian constitution which provided for partial autonomy for Jammu & Kashmir was drafted in 1947 by the then prime minister of the state, Sheikh Abdullah, and accepted by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Although intended as temporary, it was included in India’s Constitution in 1949 by the constituent assembly.
REVOKING OF SPECIAL STATUS
In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status in a move it said would better integrate the region with the rest of the country. The state was reorganized into two federally administered union territories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Pakistan strongly objected, downgrading diplomatic ties with India and cutting off trade.
WARS AND MILITARY STANDOFFS
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence, two of them over Kashmir, in 1947 and 1965. A third in 1971 led to the creation of Bangladesh. In 1999, they clashed again in the Kargil region in what was described as an undeclared war. A UN-brokered ceasefire line, the Line of Control, now divides the region.
THE INSURGENCY
Many Muslims in Indian Kashmir have long resented what they see as heavy-handed rule by India. In 1989, an insurgency by Muslim separatists began. India poured troops into the region, and tens of thousands of people have been killed.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants, which Islamabad denies, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support.
RECENT YEARS
Modi says his 2019 decision brought normalcy to Kashmir after decades of bloodshed. Violence has tapered off in recent years, according to Indian officials, with fewer large-scale attacks and rising tourist arrivals. Targeted killings of civilians and security forces, however, continued to be reported.
2024 ELECTIONS
In 2024, Jammu and Kashmir held its first local elections since the 2019 revocation of autonomy. Several newly elected lawmakers urged a partial restoration of Article 370. Key regional parties had boycotted or criticized the polls, saying the winners would not get any real political power.
– With inputs from Reuters
