A day after extremists killed 26 people in a Kashmir tourist group, the Indian government pointed a finger at a Pakistani priest on Wednesday, announcing a series of punitive actions against its neighbors, suggesting further retaliation.
India has not officially condemned the massacre group, where all but one of the dead were Indian citizens. However, it described the offensive moves outlined on Wednesday as a response to Pakistan’s support for terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
The Indian government has halted participation in the important water treaty, which has since the 1960s, that Pakistan’s irrigation system controls the river flows that it relies on. India has declared the boundaries of important lands between the two countries that have been closed. It then downgraded diplomatic relations, expelled Pakistani military advisers from the country’s New Delhi mission, and announced further restricting already restricted visas for Pakistani citizens.
The decision was made at a cabinet meeting, which was predominantly sided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the co-slaughtered civilians in the picturesque Kashmir Valley began to arrive at emotional scenes around the country. The prime minister has been described as “cross-border links of terrorist attacks,” India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Mithri said without providing details.
A few hours ago, in the Indian government’s first public response, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said the country had a “zero tolerance policy against terrorism,” suggesting a possible military strike.
“We’re not just chasing after the perpetrators of this behavior,” he said.
The Indian government has not officially laid out evidence linking certain groups to the massacre, or explains how the attacks are linked to Pakistan.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry expressed sadness “to those near the deceased.” Defence Minister Kawaja Muhammad Asif told local news channels that his country “does not support any form of terrorism,” condemning the attack on the “homemade” elements.
The Indian-controlled attacks in Kashmir have hit the Indian government in particularly sensitive areas.
In recent years, after more solid control over troubled regions, the government has justified a consistent message with one consistent message. The deadly extremists who had been shaking Himalayas for decades have finally been suppressed.
The illusion was shattered as extremists emerged from a densely packed woodland and fires sparked tourists enjoying a picnic spot in the picturesque valley near the town of Pahargam.
As authorities are in a hurry to understand that key security, one of the world’s most militarized zones, is on the way, there is growing concern in New Delhi that the pressure for Modi to respond decisively could once again raise the grading of cross-border conflicts between two nuclear-armed neighbours.
India and Pakistan have each been claiming Kashmir since the end of British colonial rule, carving out Pakistan as an independent country. Kashmir, a majority Muslim, is divided between two, with countries governing part of the whole.
India is directly denounced Pakistan for its embrace and support of the militants behind attacks like Tuesday. In 2019, the attacks by extremists who killed dozens of Indian security personnel led to broadcast struggles among countries where there was not enough full-scale war.
“The whole idea behind this attack,” said DS Hoodha, a retired Indian Army general who led the Northern Command in India based in Kashmir, “The government is under great pressure to respond.”
General Huda said the fact that the victims were civilians and that witnesses in the Indian media suggest that Hindus were chosen by extremists only exerted pressure. A list of online circulating victims verified by local Kashmir officials showed that 25 of the 26 people killed were Hindus.
The targeting of Hindus by extremists in the 1990s forced the escape of minority communities from Kashmir. In the apparently targeted killing on Tuesday, many saw the recollection that the area remains unsafe, especially for Hindus, despite allegations that the government has returned to normal.
Pakistan is scheduled to meet on Thursday by the National Security Committee, the National Security Committee. It is the country’s highest decision-making forum on safety and foreign policy as authorities prepare for a formal response to the surge in India’s stairs.
Several news reports said the Resistance Front, a slightly known and relatively new outfit in Kashmir, had claimed responsibility for the attack. An Indian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media said the security agency’s assessment was Pakistan-based extremist group Rashkar e Taiba, behind the attack, and the Resistance Front is the proxy for that group.
Videos and images of the massacre show that Indian media flooded after the attack, bringing in vast beauty at one moment, lying in the next pool of blood. One image showed a young woman in a tan jacket, kneeling on the man’s lifeless body, visibly distraught.
Among the victims was 60-year-old Kaustubh Gunbote, an avid traveler who ran a snack store in the West Indian city of Pune. He was traveling in a group of five, including his wife and friends.
The group’s men were selected, and his son Kunal Ganbote said he flew to the region’s capital Srinagar on Wednesday morning.
“He was shot in front of my mother. They were all made to lie down,” Gambote said. “I feel annoyed and angry. The government says this place is safe, but it was not safe for miles. My mother said terrorists would come in their spare time and walk around and ask people for their names.”
The attack took place when Vice President J.D. Vance and his family were in India on a four-day visit. In a message from Pathetic Dol on social media, Vance described the attack as a “devastating terrorist attack.”
After two days of visiting Saudi Arabia, Modi cut his trip and went home.
Many in Kashmir observed the closure in protest of the killings on Wednesday, and schools and businesses remained closed. Security has been tightened, with military helicopters appearing watching the valley where the attack occurred. Tourists were also rushing to leave the area, and the airline added flights.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the escape of guests from the valley after yesterday’s tragic terrorist attacks in Pahargam,” said Omar Abdullah, who was elected in the top election in Kashmir. “But at the same time, I fully understand why people want to leave.”
In recent years, Modi has adopted two broad approaches in Kashmir. It ignored, isolated, and increased security at home, Pakistan, which had already been wobbling due to domestic issues.
To isolate Pakistan, Modi is leaning on India’s growing economic and diplomatic power on the world stage. India is pushing Pakistani artists out of Indian cricket leagues from Bollywood and Pakistani athletes. This is a very lucrative industry in the region.
Modi has previously raised the threat that the establishment of Pakistan will limit the use of extremists as a pressure tactic to halt its use as a delegator. Approximately 90% of Pakistan’s food production relies on water flowing through India from the Indus River system.
“Blood and water cannot flow together,” Modi warned at a 2016 meeting shortly after another terrorist attack, referring to the adjustment of river flows to Pakistan. In 2019, the Indian government threatened to block water, but did not follow.
In 2019, Modi stripped away the semi-liberty that Kashmir enjoyed and disbanded local democracy under direct control from New Delhi.
During the continued small attacks on civilians, Modi officials increasingly predicted their strategy would be working. Kashmir turns the page, they said, and it can focus on development. The main indicator of progress was the increase in the number of tourists pouring into the valley from across the country.
Tuesday’s massive casualty attack revealed the limits of its strategy.
In recent years, India has become obsessed with a major threat at its northern border as a hawk China, which clashed with Indian troops in the Himalayas of Ladakh in 2020 and invaded Indian territory.
Indian and Chinese troops remained in war position for over four years, but have recently been freed. Meanwhile, India has sought to avoid the prospect of a two-sided conflict by agreeing to a ceasefire along its boundary with Pakistan.
Diplomatic contacts between India and Pakistan are minimal and extremist invasions continue to India, but the ceasefire is largely retained.
Last week, a speech by Pakistan’s Army Secretary General Asim Munier sparked a stir in India, and many viewed it as a provocation. Working on a gathering of Pakistanis abroad, General Munir described Kashmir as “our jugular vein,” saying that he would not leave Kashmir’s brothers in a heroic struggle to oppose Indian occupation.”
Comments have resurfaced on Indian television channels and social media since the attack on Tuesday.
Zia Ur-Rehman, Showkat Nanda and Pragati KB contributed the report.
