On 22 April, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists near the town of Pahalgam in the Indian-controlled Union Territory of Jammu-i-Kashmir. Twenty-six people were killed. A previously unknown paramilitary group calling itself the Kashmiri Resistance claimed responsibility for the attack.
India’s prime minister called the attack a terrorist attack and said the perpetrators ‘will be brought to justice.’ Indian authorities have accused Pakistan of supporting the terrorists, while the Pakistani government has denied any connection to the attackers.
India has cancelled visas for Pakistanis. All valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals will be cancelled from April 27. Medical visas will be valid till 29 April. Pakistani nationals staying in India should leave the country before their visas expire, the Indian Foreign Office said in a statement. Pakistan responded by halting all trade with India and closing its airspace to all airlines ‘owned or operated by India’, NDTV wrote. Islamabad also ordered Indian nationals to leave Pakistan and announced the suspension of visas issued under the visa waiver programme.
India downgraded diplomatic relations with Pakistan and announced a series of measures, including the expulsion of Pakistani military attachés, the closure of a land transit point and the suspension of a water-sharing treaty. In response, Pakistan has declared Indian defence, naval and aviation advisers in Islamabad persona non grata.
Indian officials have hinted at the possibility of military strikes, and television airwaves are filled with military analysts warning of unpredictable consequences if hostilities escalate, The New York Times noted.
Context:
The conflict between India and Pakistan has lasted since 1947 – since their independence. The dispute over the ownership of the Kashmir region is considered its main cause.
The last escalation of the conflict took place in February 2019. Then in Jammu-e-Kashmir, Jaish-e-Mohammad militants carried out a terrorist attack that killed 45 members of India’s Central Reserve Police Force. In response to the attack, India launched an airstrike on the group’s camp in the town of Balakot in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir; Pakistani aircraft responded by bombing close to military installations along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Further escalation was then avoided.
