Pakistan suspends Simla Agreement

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday suspended the 1972 Simla Agreement, blocked its airspace for Indian airlines, closed the Wagah border crossing, paused all trade with India, and said any attempt to divert water meant for Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an ‘act of war’.

The announcements were made after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to formulate the country's response to India's move to suspend the Indus Water Treaty and downgrade diplomatic ties after the Pahalgam terror attack.

“Pakistan shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to Simla Agreement in abeyance, till India desists from its manifested behaviour of fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan; trans-national killings, and non-adherence to international law and UN Resolutions on Kashmir,” the Pakistan PMO statement said.

“Pakistan shall close down the Wagah Border Post, with immediate effect. All cross-border transit from India through this route shall be suspended, without exception,” the NSC decided, giving an April 30 deadline to those who crossed with “valid endorsements” to return through that route.

India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the over six-decade-old Indus Water Treaty and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the Pahalgam terror attack.

A day after the brazen attack that killed 26 civilians, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, firmed up New Delhi's retaliatory measures, directed the security forces to maintain "high vigil" and resolved to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.