Pakistan Army Chief’s Strategy Sparks India-Pakistan Tensions
In the wake of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives, tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated significantly. The Indian Army responded to “speculative firing” by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday night, with military sources confirming that the response was effective and resulted in no casualties.
“There were incidents of small arms firing at some places along the LoC initiated by Pakistan last night. The firing was effectively responded to,” sources said.
This exchange of fire comes just days after the Pahalgam terror attack, which targeted tourists in the region. In response to the attack, India has taken several stringent measures against Pakistan, including the expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, and the immediate closure of the Attari land-transit post. These actions are in view of the “cross-border links” to Tuesday’s attack, which left 26 people, including a Nepali national, dead.
India formally notified Pakistan on Thursday that the decision to indefinitely suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, comes into effect immediately. A letter from the Union Ministry of Water Resources to Syed Ali Murtuza, Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources of Pakistan, stated:
“The obligation to honour a treaty in good faith is fundamental to a treaty. However, what we have seen instead is sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
The letter further highlighted changes that have significantly altered population demographics and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy, which have impacted the assumptions underlying the sharing of waters under the Treaty.
Pakistan, in turn, has threatened to suspend all agreements between the two countries, including the Simla pact of 1972, which validates the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The situation remains tense, with both nations exchanging strong rhetoric and taking retaliatory measures.
As the region grapples with the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack and the subsequent military and diplomatic escalations, the international community watches closely, urging restraint and dialogue to prevent further deterioration of relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
