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Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
India's 5 big moves against Pakistan: One month since Pahalgam terror attack
The April 22 terror attack in Baisaran meadow in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam left the entire nation grieving — 26 innocent lives were lost in a horrifying act of violence that shook every Indian to the core. Families were shattered, and a sense of deep anger and sorrow gripped the country. But amidst the heartbreak, India stood firm. In the last month, India undertook several significant measures against Pakistan to hold it accountable for its support of cross-border terrorism and to safeguard India's national security. On April 23, India announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a key water-sharing agreement established in 1960. The decision was taken to exert pressure on Pakistan to cease its support for cross-border terrorism. The suspension underscores India's intent to leverage strategic resources in response to security threats. On April 23, India expelled Pakistani military advisers stationed at the high commission in New Delhi and recalled its own military personnel from Islamabad. Additionally, the Indian high commission in Islamabad reduced its staff from 55 to 30 members. These steps were taken to minimise diplomatic interactions and to express India's disapproval of Pakistan's alleged actions. All existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27. India revoked all previously issued visas to Pakistani nationals and imposed a comprehensive travel ban under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme. This measure was intended to prevent potential threats and to convey India's zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. In a move to sever direct land connectivity, India on May 1 closed the Attari–Wagah border crossing, the primary overland trade and travel route between the two nations. The action aimed to disrupt bilateral engagements and signal India's firm stance against Pakistan's alleged involvement in the Pahalgam attack. In a targeted military response, India launched Operation Sindoor, conducting precision airstrikes on terrorist infrastructure within Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The operation aimed to dismantle the networks responsible for the Pahalgam attack while avoiding civilian casualties. This marked a significant escalation in India's counter-terrorism strategy. Following India's retaliation, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions. The hostilities ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
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Business Standard
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Trump again claims credit for resolving India-Pakistan conflict via trade
US President Donald Trump reiterated on Thursday (IST) that he played a key role in settling the recent India–Pakistan conflict through trade. Speaking at the Oval Office during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump said, 'If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India... we settled that whole, and I think I settled it through trade.' India denies Trump's claim of intervention Trump has made similar remarks since India and Pakistan agreed to cease all military action on May 10, following four days of cross-border drone and missile strikes after ' Operation Sindoor '. India, however, has publicly denied Trump's role in the de-escalation. On May 19, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefed a parliamentary committee on the developments post-Operation Sindoor and made no mention of US mediation. Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Trump had called the outcome, 'A bigger success than I'll ever be given credit for. Those are major nuclear powers. Those are not like a little bit, and they were angry.' What led to Operation Sindoor? On the intervening night of May 6–7, India launched coordinated missile strikes on nine terrorist targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), codenamed Operation Sindoor. The strikes were in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists. Before the military operation, India downgraded the diplomatic ties with Pakistan, suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, and cancelled visas under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) Pakistan responded with heavy cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC). After four days of hostilities, both countries agreed to an understanding to cease fire and halt all military activity.
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First Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
How abeyance of Indus Water Treaty will deepen political economic crises in Pakistan
Weaponising water or choking Pakistan through riverine disconnect will hurt its Achilles' Heels and stir more unrest in Pakistan. It can be an effective recipe for Pakistan's balkanisation read more The Baglihar Dam in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban after India cut the flow of water through the dam on the Chenab river following suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. PTI The Pahalgam attack on the tourists on April 22, 2025, was Pakistan's provocation. This heinous attack took place in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan's Army Chief, General Asim Munir's communal speech, echoing the standard Pakistani line, blending religiously charged ideological narrative with distraction as a strategy. Animosity against India has always been a powerful narrative, tactically employed time and again to distract the Pakistani citizens from domestic issues. The Pakistani military has lost its image in the wake of India's surgical strikes and airstrikes in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Imran Khan's brand politics further dwindled the image of the inviolable Pakistani military. General Asim Munir tries to recover the morale of the Pakistani military through anti-India and anti-Hindu rhetoric because it chimes well with the people and is a shortcut to image restoration. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Pahalgam attack could not have gone unpunished. The 2016 'surgical strike' and the 2019 Balakot 'airstrike' have set the precedent of what India can do when it is messed up with. The repetition of a limited military action against the terror infrastructure was unavoidable. The non-military options have been used as well, and they include abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty, closure of the integrated check post Attari, travel ban on Pakistani nationals under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES), staff reduction in the High Commission, suspension of visa services, and suspension of all symbolisms during the Retreat Ceremony at Attari, Hussainiwala, and Sadki in Punjab. Economic and diplomatic coercions have been rolled out to test Pakistani grit. Psychological war has already started with the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty. Therefore, weaponising water or choking Pakistan through riverine disconnect will hurt its Achilles' Heels and stir more unrest in Pakistan. It can be an effective recipe for Pakistan's balkanisation. India has the capacity, and it can push more infrastructure into the Indus water systems to inflict a water war on Pakistan. Since its inception in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty has never been weaponised. Pakistan's unrestrained terror sponsorship since Partition has forced India to hit back. It will be very different this time. Pakistan has crossed all limits. The Pahalgam massacre was the tipping point. Its demonstrative religious overtones have surpassed all thresholds of restraint. Retribution is the only corollary. Islamabad must be taught a lesson in the language that it understands well. Water war will hit Pakistan harder. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In the age of climate change, global warming, and freshwater scarcity, water war is an emerging reality. Its viscerality is yet to see the light of day. The scope of conceivable conflicts finds a new dimension through water wars. It is going to be non-kinetic but more damaging. Kinetic wars are becoming increasingly obsolete in the age of a multipolar world order, AI, critical space research, and nuclear power. The Ukraine-Russia war was never expected to last more than three days. The asymmetrical rivals were conceived to warp the war in a few days. Conversely, it has become unending and inconclusive. It has stretched to the length of two years. Hot pursuits may be risky and involve collateral. But the effective, aggressive, and consistent cold pursuit can be a better deterrence. The Indus Waters System comprises the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi. The eastern rivers are Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. The Indus Treaty entitles India to use the waters of the eastern rivers. On the other hand, the western rivers include the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. The treaty ensures that Pakistan can use its waters. This is Pakistan's lifeline. Its hydropower, agriculture, and industrial and non-industrial domains depend essentially on them. If India carves out the short-, medium- and long-term plans to weaponise Indus water with robust capacity building, Pakistan will undergo nightmares. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD New Delhi has done some effective work in this direction. Many more projects are in the pipeline. If they are rolled out with precision and systematicity, Pakistan will find a surer passage to crushing poverty. Agriculture contributes to around 25 per cent of Pakistan's GDP. Around 40 per cent of the workforce is involved in the agricultural sector. This explains the importance of the Indus water for Pakistan. Exercising control over the Indus water will hurt Pakistan severely. Food security will be in grave danger. Poverty will embrace Pakistan. Its hydropower stations will run dry, leaving Pakistan in prolonged darkness. Climate change has affected the precipitation patterns and volume. The Indus water blockade will exacerbate the water crisis, leading to drought or flooding. Downstream will be either inundated or dried depending on India's decision to release or restrict water. Kishenganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plant projects on the Jhelum and the Chenab in 2018 have already rattled Pakistan. These are the western rivers where Pakistan has the unrestricted use of water. Pakistan reached out to the World Bank in 2016 against the Kishenganga and Ratle projects. Nothing conclusive came out of this exercise. The hydro projects were built. They strengthen India's capacity for water coercion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan's promotion of terror will now be responded to with water coercion. India's philanthropy has its limits, too. It cannot go on infinitely, especially when Pakistan cultivates hatred against India. However, India has followed the structural specifications of the treaty insofar as the construction of the hydro projects is concerned. It may increase the height to enhance the storage capacity. Pakistan's downstream Mangla Dam will dry up for want of water. India will fast-track its hydro project constructions on the Jhelum and Chenab. On the eastern rivers, India has already built the Shahpurkandi Dam on the Ravi and is planning the Ujh Dam to redirect its water to Indian fields. The surplus water from the eastern rivers will not be released to Pakistan. This will severely impact Islamabad's fragile economy. Punjab and Sindh Provinces of Pakistan will be directly affected. The water war on Pakistan will have economic ramifications, affecting agriculture and hydropower production. Indus water feeds Pakistan through irrigation, cotton, rice, and wheat production. Crop yield and food production will nosedive in the absence of water. Pakistan's export basket will shrink. Its textile industry will be impacted. Food prices will skyrocket. Inflation will hit people directly. Economic hardship will hurt the people. On the other hand, electricity production in Punjab and Sindh will be decreased, affecting the industries and manufacturing sectors. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty will restrict information sharing. If India stops sharing the hydrological data, the downstream areas will have no clue of flooding. Life and livelihoods will face grave risks of inundation, causing severe economic stress. Climate change has invited more unpredictability. Fragile Indus ecology and its glacial ecosystem have become more sensitive. Unpredictability enlarges risk thresholds. Frequent flooding embodies consequences, especially in the downstream. This, too, has sociological ramifications. Pakistan is a divided society. Economic vulnerability will open a Pandora's box of internal conflicts, clearing the way for balkanisation. The strained relationship between India and Pakistan will hurt the latter, thinning its dependencies on India. However, Pakistan ought to be tutored. Terrorism and friendship cannot coexist. For Pakistan, India is an enemy nation. This is entrenched in the Pakistani collective unconscious. It will never shift its conviction. Its fundamentals of India hatred, which is synonymous with Hindu hatred, are inalterable. Its political conceptions of the nation-state are ingrained in religious exclusivism. Its existential philosophy rests on religious bigotry. Given this non-negotiable constancy and historicity of hatred, India has tried doggedly to transform Pakistan despite betrayal and declarative despise. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India has done everything from humanitarian aid, Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, medical help, and education to people-to-people contact. India has always followed the rule of law and shown humanitarian gestures. Conversely, it has only received hatred, terrorism and war. India gave Pakistan the MFN status in 1996. It was withdrawn in 2019 following the Pulwama attack. The 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008 was forgotten in the pursuit of friendship with the enemy nation. It was always misconstrued that the Pakistani state is not the same as its people. This misconception has given India a hard time. It is time to shun it. Since 2016, India's action against Pakistan terror has been stern, swift and decisive. Its unequivocal iteration will keep Pakistan in check. It is time to overcome Stockholm syndrome and smell the coffee. It is time to act and set a precedent so that Pakistan will think many times before it does anything wrong. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Jajati K Pattnaik is an Associate Professor at the Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Chandan K Panda is an Assistant Professor at Rajiv Gandhi University (A Central University), Itanagar. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Hindustan Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death anniv: Uncertainty over Sikh pilgrims' visit to Pak
Amritsar : Uncertainty looms over the visit of 500 Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan for the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh — to be observed on June 30 — following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. According to a pact between the two nations, 500 pilgrims are allowed to visit Pakistan on the death anniversary of the Maharaja. The SGPC quota is 300, while 200 pilgrims are sent by other Sikh bodies. After the Pahalgam terror attack, the Union government imposed restrictions on Indian citizens travelling to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border and suspended all types of visas, with certain exemptions. In response, Pakistan canceled all visas under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) issued to Indian nationals — except for Sikh religious pilgrims. A statement issued by Pakistani authorities instructed Indian nationals in Pakistan under SVES to leave the country, excluding Sikh pilgrims. Palwinder Singh, in-charge of SGPC's pilgrimage department, confirmed that 326 names have been submitted for visa processing. 'We have prepared and sent the lists to the Punjab government and other authorities. The pilgrims can travel only if the Union government grants permission,' he stated. As per the Nehru-Liaquat Pact signed in 1950, Sikh pilgrims are allowed to visit shrines in Pakistan on four key religious occasions, including the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, foundation day of Khalsa Panth (Baisakhi) and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Sikh bodies not to send jatha on Guru Arjan's martyrdom day However, Sikh bodies such as the Khalra Mission Committee, Nankana Sahib Foundation and the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) have decided not to send jatha on martyrdom day of the fifth master Guru Arjan Dev, which falls on June 16, to Pakistan. Jagjit Singh Bhullar, president of the Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society in Ferozepur, said: 'I have coordinated with all Sikh bodies except the SGPC and decided not to send the jatha on Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom day because of the tense situation at the border. Also, we don't expect the Indian government to grant travel permission.' Due to a dispute over the Nanakshahi calendar, the SGPC observes Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom day on May 30, based on its amended version, and does not organise pilgrimages for the June 16 date followed by other bodies. Despite the current diplomatic strain, Pakistan's Punjab minister for minorities affairs and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Ramesh Singh Arora had earlier confirmed that visa arrangements were being made for Indian pilgrims planning to visit for Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom observance at Gurdwara Dehra Sahib in Lahore. Just days before the Pahalgam attack, nearly 5,800 Indian pilgrims returned from Pakistan after celebrating Baisakhi in April — the largest Sikh jatha to visit Pakistan since Partition, with nearly 7,000 visas issued.
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Business Standard
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
No role beyond a facilitator: World Bank's Ajay Banga on IWT suspension
World Bank President Ajay Banga refuted reports suggesting that the World Bank may intervene and compel India to overturn its decision of holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. Press Information Bureau (PIB) quoted Ajay Banga on X saying, 'We have no role to play beyond a facilitator. There's a lot of speculation in the media about how the World Bank will step in & fix the problem, but it's all bunk. The World Bank's role is merely as a facilitator.' We have no role to play beyond a facilitator. There's a lot of speculation in the media about how the World Bank will step in & fix the problem but it's all bunk. The World Bank's role is merely as a facilitator -World Bank President, Ajay Banga on #IndusWaterTreaty Suspension… — PIB India (@PIB_India) May 9, 2025 On April 25, a day after India held the treaty in abeyance, Pakistan announced its intention of reaching the World Bank, seeking intervention. Rejecting the suspension as 'unilateral and illegal', Islamabad's foreign office added that any attempt to curb Pakistan's water share would be deemed an 'act of war'. The statement serves as a setback to Pakistan as tensions between the two nations escalated following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, after which the two nuclear-armed neighbours downgraded their diplomatic ties and India suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. What is the Indus Waters Treaty The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 is a water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan, signed on September 19, 1960, in Karachi. The deal was brokered by the World Bank after nine years of negotiations. Earlier on May 4, India curtailed the flow of water through the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab and is planning similar measures on the Kishanganga Dam along the Jhelum. Pahalgam terror attack The attack took place in Pahalgam's Baisaran valley when 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed by terrorists. Following this, India retaliated and announced a series of punitive measures, including the shutdown of the Attari border. The government also cancelled visas for Pakistani nationals under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme. The government also blocked over 15 Pakistani YouTube channels and Instagram accounts of several Pakistani celebrities, including Hania Amir and Mahira Khan. After the ties were downgraded between the two countries, India retaliated and launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 and targeted terrorist infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). After the missile strikes, Pakistan resorted to heavy shelling, resulting in the death of at least 16 civilians.
