India, Pakistan Tensions Rise After Tit-For-Tat Moves Following Deadly Kashmir Attack

ISLAMABAD -- Tensions between India and Pakistan are threatening to boil over as the two countries trade diplomatic and economic measures following a deadly attack in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir that has raised fears of another military escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.

India downgraded its ties with Pakistan on April 23 and accused it of supporting "cross-border terrorism" a day after 26 people were killed by gunmen at a Himalayan tourist attraction in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.

A little-known militant group called The Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the attack. Twenty-five of those killed were Indian nationals.

The attack and its fallout risk inflaming ties between India and Pakistan, which both claim authority over the region.

SEE ALSO:
What's Behind The New Wave Of Violence In Pakistan's Balochistan?

Among other punitive measures taken against Islamabad, New Delhi closed the main border crossing linking the two countries, expelled Pakistani diplomats, and ordered some Pakistani visa holders to leave within 48 hours.

India also announced the suspension of the six-decade old Indus Waters Treaty, which shares water between the two countries.

Pakistan has denied any involvement and responded with countermeasures of its own on April 24, suspending visas for some Indian nationals and expelling certain Indian diplomats and defense officials from the country.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called for a "credible investigation" into the attack and said "India must resist the temptation to exploit such tragic incidents to its advantage."

SEE ALSO:
Pakistan's Internet 'Firewall' Aimed At Crushing Dissent Upends Livelihoods

He also hit back with a stern warning about New Delhi's suspension of the water-sharing treaty.

"Pakistan vehemently rejects the Indian announcement to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance," Sharif said in a statement following the convening of the country's National Security Council on April 24.

"Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty…will be considered as an Act of War and responded with full force," the statement added.

The April 22 attack marks the area's worst assault on civilians in years and could bring a new wave of unrest to the region claimed by both Pakistan and India that has been the epicenter of an often-violent territorial struggle between the two countries.

SEE ALSO:
In Moscow, Modi Treads Fine Line Between Russia And The West

"We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on April 24 as he vowed to track down and punish the attackers.

Modi did not refer to the attackers as being Pakistani, but police in Indian Kashmir claimed two of the three suspected militants were Pakistani nationals. They did not say how they identified the attackers.

Modi is expected to meet with other Indian officials on April 24 to discuss the attack and how to respond to the tit-for-tat moves with Pakistan.

India and Pakistan control separate parts of Kashmir, but both claim it in full. Since India's partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the nuclear-armed neighbors have fought wars over the territory.

SEE ALSO:
Pakistan's Chinese Solar-Panel Boom Risks New Debt Crisis

The Pahalgam attack now risks reigniting long-running tensions.

The water treaty, which was mediated by the World Bank and signed in 1960, regulates the sharing of waters of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan. It has withstood two wars between the neighbors since then and severe strains in ties at other times.

The treaty stipulates that India must, with few exceptions, allow water from the western rivers to flow downstream into Pakistan.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were already weak even before the latest measures and countermeasures announced by New Delhi and Islamabad.

Pakistan expelled India's envoy and has not posted its own ambassador in New Delhi since India revoked the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir in 2019.

India has often accused Pakistan of involvement in an insurgency in Kashmir, but Islamabad says it only offers diplomatic and moral support to a demand for self-determination.