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Informist, Monday, May 5, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – As India weighs further retaliatory steps in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, that claimed 26 lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday held a meeting with Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at his residence in New Delhi, sources said. On Sunday, the Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, had met the prime minister to brief him on the operational preparedness of the force.

 

Modi has so far held meetings with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and with the three service chiefs. At a meeting in Delhi last week, Modi gave the armed forces full operational freedom to determine India's response to the attack.

 

The meeting with the defence secretary came after the government moved to cut the flow of water to Pakistan through the Chenab river by closing the gates of the Baglihar dam in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district, according to reports.

 

The move to curb the flow of water in the Chenab came days after New Delhi suspended the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan. The treaty allocates the waters of the Indus river system, which comprises six rivers, to the two countries. The waters of the eastern rivers Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej are reserved for India's unrestricted use and the waters of the western rivers Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab are meant primarily for Pakistan, with India allowed limited access for non-consumptive uses like generating electricity and irrigation.

 

Relations between India and Pakistan hit a new low after the terrorist attack at the Baisaran meadow Apr. 22. India has accused Pakistan of providing support to the terrorists and taken several diplomatic measures against its western neighbour. Besides suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, the government closed Indian airspace for Pakistan-registered as well as Pakistani-owned and operated airlines, suspended trade, revoked the visas of Pakistani nationals, and cut the strength of Pakistan's High Commission in New Delhi.

 

In retaliation, Pakistan has announced the suspension of all bilateral agreements with India, including the Simla Agreement of 1972, suspended trade, and closed its airspace for Indian-owned and operated airlines. Islamabad also asserted that any attempt to divert or stop the flow of Indus water to Pakistan would be considered an act of war.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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