An emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Thursday rejected India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, declaring any attempt to stop waters designated for Pakistan will be an “act of war.”
Chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by top civil and military leadership, the meeting sought to formulate a response to India’s severing of diplomatic ties with Pakistan after terrorists killed at least 26 people in India-held Kashmir. A statement issued after the meeting said participants had discussed the national security environment and the regional situation in the wake of the attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
Expressing concern over the loss of tourists’ lives in the attack, the NSC termed India’s announced measures unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit.
Rejecting outright the Indian announcement to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, the NSC noted it was a binding international agreement brokered by the World Bank that lacked any provision for unilateral suspension. Declaring water a vital national interest of Pakistan and a lifeline for its 240 million people, it vowed to safeguard its availability at all costs. “Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian” would be considered an act of war and “responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power,” it added.
Noting India’s repeated disregarding of international conventions, U.N. Security Council resolutions and international obligations, the NSC said Pakistan shall exercise its right to hold in abeyance all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement. This, it said, would continue until India desists from its manifested behavior of fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan, transnational killings, and non-adherence to international law and U.N. resolutions on Kashmir.
In retaliation to India’s declaration, the NSC said Pakistan would close down the Wagah-Attari border, suspending all cross-border transit from India through this route, without exception. “Those who have crossed with valid endorsements may return through that route immediately but not later than April 30, 2025,” it added.
Pakistan similarly suspended all visas issued to Indian nations under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme, deemed them cancelled with immediate effect, with the exception of Sikh religious pilgrims. Indian nationals currently in Pakistan under the scheme must leave the country within 48 hours.
The NSC has also declared Indian defense, naval and air advisers in Islamabad persona non grata, directing them to leave the country immediately, but no later than April 30. “These posts in the Indian High Commission are deemed annulled,” it said, adding support staff of these advisors must also return to India. It said the strength of Indian High Commission in Islamabad stands reduced to 30 diplomats and staff members, with effect from April 30.
Additionally, Pakistan has closed its airspace for all Indian owned or Indian operated airlines with immediate effect and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country through Pakistan.
Validating Two-Nation Theory
The NSC noted that India’s “belligerent measures” had vindicated the Two-Nation Theory, as well as the apprehensions of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as voiced in the 1940 Pakistan Resolution. “The Pakistani nation remains committed to peace, but will never allow anyone to transgress its sovereignty, security, dignity and their inalienable rights,” it added.
In its readout, the NSC noted Kashmir remains an unresolved dispute between Pakistan and India, stressing Islamabad continues to support the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people. It said ongoing Indian state oppression, abrogation of statehood, political and demographic gerrymandering, has persistently led to an organic backlash from the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, perpetuating cycles of violence.
Urging India to resist the temptation to exploit tragedies to its advantage and take full responsibility for its failure to provide security to the people, the NSC stressed that Pakistan “unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.” Noting Pakistan’s immense human and economic losses due to terrorism, it accused India of attempting to distract Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts through its actions on the eastern border. “In the absence of any credible investigation and verifiable evidence, attempts to link the Pahalgam attack with Pakistan are frivolous, devoid of rationality and defeat logic,” it said.
The statement maintained that India’s “worn-out narrative of victimhood” cannot hide its culpability in fomenting terrorism on Pakistan’s soil. “Contrary to Indian claims, Pakistan has in its custody incontrovertible proof of Indian-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, including the confession of a serving Indian Navy officer, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, who remains a living testament to India’s state-sponsored terrorist activities,” it added.
Deploring the implicit threat in India’s statement, the NSC urged the international community to remain mindful of India’s state sponsored extraterritorial assassinations or attempts on foreign soil. “Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” it warned.
The statement advised India to refrain from its reflexive blame game and cynical staged managed exploitation of incidents like Pahalgam to further its narrow political agenda. “Such tactics serve only to inflame tensions and obstruct the path to peace and stability in the region,” it said, pointing to “irresponsible warmongering” from Indian state controlled media as requiring serious introspection.
Indian statement
Islamabad’s response comes after India’s Ministry of External Affairs laid out five measures it described as “decisive response to cross-border terrorism.” In a speech on Thursday, Indian P.M. Narendra Modi also vowed to punish backers and those responsible for the attack in Pahalgam. “I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer … We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth,” he said.