Skip next section Pakistan declares Indian defense, naval and air advisors ‘persona non grata’April 24, 2025
Pakistan declares Indian defense, naval and air advisors ‘persona non grata’The Pakistani prime minister’s office declared the “Indian Defence, Naval and Air Advisors in Islamabad persona non grata,” adding they were “directed to leave Pakistan immediately.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a rare national security meeting earlier this morning to discuss his country’s response to Indian measures against the country.
The statement read that land borders would be closed and trade canceled, along with the closure of airspace to Indian-owned or operated airlines.
Visas for Indian nationals also stood canceled, except Silk pilgrims who wish to travel to Pakistan to visit various religious sites.
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Skip next section What is the Kashmir dispute?April 24, 2025
What is the Kashmir dispute?The dispute between India and Pakistan over the region of Jammu and Kashmir can be traced back to 1947, when British India was partitioned.
The partition established a Muslim-majority Pakistan and a Hindu-majority India and was to allow the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to choose which country to accede to.
The Kashmiri monarch at the time, or the Hindu maharaja, had sought to keep Kashmir independent because the state has been subjugated and oppressed for centuries by conquering empires.
But the monarch decided to join India in exchange for help to dispel invading Pakistani herders, triggering the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-48.
The Karachi Agreement of 1949 temporarily ended violence in the Jammu-Kashmir region by establishing a ceasefire overseen by members of a UN truce subcommittee.
But tensions simmered until a skirmish between border controls escalated to a full-blown war between India and Pakistan in 1965.
India and Pakistan fought another brief war over East Pakistan in 1971, with Indian forces helping the territory gain independence, that resulted in modern-day Bangladesh.
In 1972, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto signed the Simla Agreement to usher in a new era of bilateral relations.
The agreement established the provisional militarized border that split Jammu and Kashmir into two administrative regions.
The biggest portion is controlled by India, while Pakistan controls what it calls Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
China also occupies a small region called Aksai Chin to the east, which India has also laid claim to.
In 1989, a pro-independence insurgency gathered momentum in Indian-administered Kashmir following disputed state elections.
The insurgency escalated over the next decade, partly fanned by a violent crackdown by Indian troops. India accused Pakistan of supporting the insurgents by providing weapons and training. Pakistan denied this claim.
In 1999, India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers by now, fought a high-altitude limited war in Kargil, a remote area in Indian-controlled Kashmir, after Pakistani soldiers crossed the border.
Although both countries have maintained a fragile ceasefire since 2003, they regularly exchange fire across the contested border.
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Skip next section Pakistan to close border, trade and airspace to IndiaApril 24, 2025
Pakistan to close border, trade and airspace to IndiaPakistan’s Security Council met on Thursday to discuss how it would respond to measures taken by India Image: Manish Swarup/AP/picture alliancePakistan announced Thursday it will cancel visas for Indian nationals and close its skies to carriers from India, as well as suspend trade, following the deadly attack by gunmen in Pahalgam.
India’s Foreign Ministry said earlier on Thursday all visas issued to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from Sunday.
The measures mark an escalation of tension between the two longtime rivals.
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Skip next section Indian intelligence agencies trace attackers’ digital footprints: Indian media reportsApril 24, 2025
Indian intelligence agencies trace attackers’ digital footprints: Indian media reportsIndian media reported the country’s intelligence agencies traced the digital footprints of Pahalgam attackers to safehouses in Karachi, and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The findings were based on forensic analysis and statements from survivors.
A report by Indian newspaper Hindustan Times quoted unnamed senior officials saying the attackers used a control room similar to the one that was used in the attacks on Mumbai in November 2008.
The reports could not be independently verified.
There were five to six attackers, who shot for about ten minutes in three major spots at the Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam. They arrived from the nearby pine forests carrying rifles.
Survivors’ accounts said they approached the tourists and asked them their religion. They were asked to recite Islamic verses and if they failed, they were shot, reported Indian news channel NDTV.
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Skip next section Kashmiri students in other parts of India harassed, called ‘terrorists’ — student groupApril 24, 2025
Kashmiri students in other parts of India harassed, called ‘terrorists’ — student groupKashmiri students in the northern Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh reported being harassed and intimated in the aftermath of the attack.
They were called “terrorists” and asked to leave rented apartments or university hostels, said Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami.
“It is a deliberate and targeted campaign of hate and vilification against students from a particular region and identity,” Khuehami said.
Twenty Kashmiri students in the city of Dehradun, which is the capital of the northwestern state of Dehradun, had to rush to the airport after being warned by a right-wing Hindu nationalist group called the Hindu Rashtra Dal.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he was in touch with state governments where students had reported feeling unsafe.
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Skip next section EU ambassadors in India observe minute’s silenceApril 24, 2025
EU ambassadors in India observe minute’s silenceThe ambassadors of European Union (EU) countries stationed in Indiaobserved a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the Pahalgam attack, which took place in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and left two dozens of tourists dead.
“The EU family stands with India in this moment of mourning,” EU ambassador in India Herve Delphin posted on his X account.
The board of the Federation of European Businesses in India (FEBI) also took part.
This comes after the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, sent condolences to the victims and the people of India, saying she condemns the “heinous terrorist attack.”
“The EU stands firm against terrorism,” Kallas said.
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Skip next section ‘Kashmiris condemn the attack,’ locals tell DWApril 24, 2025
‘Kashmiris condemn the attack,’ locals tell DWKashmiris have taken to the streets to protests against the violence that claimed 26 livesImage: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Kashmiris have long borne the consequences of fighting in the region amid a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan, two countries that have long been at odds with each other.
But Kashmiris are angry, especially following the attack on the tourists visiting the Indian-controlled territory.
“Kashmiris are on the streets against the killing of humanity and our guests — we condemn it,” one man tells DW.
“This is an extremely tragic and heartbreaking incident. People came here to enjoy but unfortunately lost their lives,” says another woman.
“Terrorism has no religion — terrorism is neither Hindu nor Muslim,” a domestic tourist visiting the region says.
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Skip next section A sense of ‘profound grief’ following attack near Pahalgam, says DW India correspondentApril 24, 2025
A sense of ‘profound grief’ following attack near Pahalgam, says DW India correspondentDW correspondent Adil Bhat is reporting from Srinagar, Kashmir, and described the mood there as one of a “tense calm” feeling.
There is a sense of “profound grief and anger” following the attack in the disputed territory of Kashmir that saw at least 26 tourists killed, including a Nepalese national.
The scenic spot where the shooting took place, close to the picturesque mountainous town of Pahalgam in the Baisaran Valley, is only accessible by foot or on horseback.
Adil said there were protests against the attack, as have been reported by local outlets too, amongst people in the region.
The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for example, called a strike on Wednesday in the city of Jammu in the Indian-controlled territory of Jammu and Kashmir, according to local reports.
“Tourists are trying to leave and people in the tourism business — like those who run hotels and or drive taxis — are receiving cancellations,” Adil said.
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Skip next section Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif calls for meeting to discuss responseApril 24, 2025
Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif calls for meeting to discuss responsePakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to hold a meeting of the National Security Committee to discuss the country’s response
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said India’s recent statements after the attack were unserious and irresponsible, reported the Pakistani news portal Thursday Times. He added that Pakistan would respond strongly soon.
India accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after the deadly attack in Kashmir on Tuesday.
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Skip next section PM Modi says India will pursue attackers to ‘ends of the Earth,’ calls for all-party meetApril 24, 2025
PM Modi says India will pursue attackers to ‘ends of the Earth,’ calls for all-party meetIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to take strong action against the Pahalgam attackers on Thursday.
“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,” Modi said in his first speech since the attack on Tuesday.
He called for an all-party meeting on Thursday, to brief political groups about the government’s response after militants attacked a tourist locale near Pahalgam, Kashmir.
Modi has vowed a strong response to the attack near Pahalgam in Indian-administered KashmirImage: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP India also summoned the top diplomat at Pakistan’s embassy, Saad Ahmad Warraich, on Wednesday night, with India downgrading diplomatic ties Islamabad following the attack.
The attack left 26 people dead including one Nepalese national, and several others injured.
New Delhi also handed a formal persona non grata note for all Pakistani military diplomats, Indian media reported.
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Skip next section New Delhi downgrades ties with IslamabadApril 24, 2025
New Delhi downgrades ties with IslamabadIndian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India will withdraw its defense attaches in Pakistan and also reduce the number of staff at its mission in Islamabad from 55 to 30.
Misri added that India believes there was cross-border involvement in the attack, referring to its neighbor with which it shares a tense history since the independence of the two countries from the British Empire.
Yesterday, India suspended The Indus River water-sharing treaty with Pakistan and closed a key border crossing as part of a raft of diplomatic measures.
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Skip next section Welcome to our coverageApril 24, 2025
Welcome to our coverageTanika Godbole | Saim Dušan Inayatullah
Welcome to DW’s coverage of events in Kashmir and the wider region on Thursday, April 24, 2024.
On Tuesday, 26 people, including a Nepalese man, were killed near a tourist resort near the mountain town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The attack prompted New Delhi to downgrade its diplomatic ties with Pakistan the following day, including the suspension of a key water-sharing treaty.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to brief political parties on the attack later on Thursday.
https://p.dw.com/p/4tUKi
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