India has closed a border crossing, suspended a water-sharing treaty and downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan, a day after a militant attack in Kashmir that left at least 26 people dead and 17 others wounded.
India blames its neighbour for Tuesday’s assault in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination in the Indian-held part of the territory, which both nuclear-armed nations claim as their own.
Pakistan, which said it was “concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives”, has denied involvement.
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Officials said 24 of the people killed were Indian tourists. One was from Nepal, and another was a local tourist guide.
It was the worst attack in years targeting civilians, and many shops and businesses in Kashmir closed to protest the killings.
India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, told reporters on Wednesday that a special cabinet meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided that the attack had “cross-border” links to Pakistan, without providing evidence.
Mr Misri said the main land border crossing between the countries would be closed and that the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, under which the countries share a river system vital to both, would be suspended until Pakistan stopped supporting “cross-border terrorism”.
A number of Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi had been asked to leave, and Indian diplomats were recalled from Pakistan.
Islamabad would respond on Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar said.
Tens of thousands of Indian police and soldiers have been deployed to hunt the attackers, stopping vehicles, and using helicopters, while former militants were questioned at police stations, reports said.
Police called the assault a “terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule.
Kashmir Resistance, a previously unknown militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack on social media, protesting the settlement of more than 85,000 “outsiders” in the region.
Those targeted were not “ordinary tourists” but “were linked to and affiliated with Indian security agencies”, it said, in messages that could not be independently verified.
Kashmir has seen a spate of deadly attacks on Hindus since New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms, but Tuesday’s deadly attack was the first time tourists have been targeted.
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Despite the frequency of violence, millions of visitors have been lured to the region’s Himalayan foothills, encouraged by India’s promotion of the scenic area.
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Following the attack, panicked tourists started to leave Kashmir.
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Monojit Debnath, from Kolkata, told the Press Trust of India Kashmir was beautiful, but he and his family were leaving as “we should think about what safety we have here for us”.
