Pahalgam attack: India closes airspace for Pakistan flights as tensions soar

As tension mounts between India and Pakistan after the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, New Delhi on Wednesday closed its airspace for all flights from Pakistan.

 

The Pakistani flights heading for destinations in Southeast Asia will now have to circumnavigate the sub-continent, which will put an additional burden on the already cash-strapped carriers.

 

The move is the latest in a series of punitive actions India has taken against Islamabad after the terrorist attack, in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, lost their lives on April 22.

 

India accused cross-border links to the attack and vowed a strong retaliation to the perpetrators and those who harbour them. New Delhi’s tough assertions have pushed the two nuclear-armed neighbours on the brink of a regional war.

 

A Cabinet Committee on Security which met a day after the attack had decided to suspend the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan and close the Attari land border crossing. The CCS also suspended short-term visas issued to Pakistani nationals.

 

Pakistan responded by closing its airspace for Indian airlines, closing the Wagah border and suspending all trade with India.

 

India’s decision to suspend the water treaty has sparked an outrage among the political leadership in Islamabad, with many, including ministers, raising war rhetoric and provocation.

 

At a second meeting of the CCS on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly given “complete operational freedom” to the armed forces to respond to the Pahalgam attack.

 

The forces can choose the targets, mode and timing of the response, he said.

 

Modi chaired multiple high-level meetings in Delhi on Wednesday as India has been weighing its countermeasures ever since the attack.

 

Meanwhile, intense search operations are underway at multiple places in Jammu and Kashmir for the terrorists who sprayed bullets indiscriminately at the tourists, in one of the deadliest attacks in the region in decades.

India