New Delhi, 24 April, 2025: – Pakistan’s National Security Council issued a statement saying that Pakistan would regard any attempt by India to change its right to use the waters of the Indus River as an act of war.
“Any cessation or change of Pakistani waters as provided for in the Indus Waters Treaty, or any usurpation of the right of use, will be regarded by us as an act of war,” Pakistan’s National Security Council said in a statement published in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
The statement also pointed out that “any trade with India, including trade to and from any third country through Pakistan should be stopped immediately” and Pakistan’s airspace will be immediately closed to all airlines belonging to or operated by India.
In response to India ‘s suspension of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan has announced that it has put in abeyance the 1972 Simla Agreement with India, according to which all disputes, including Kashmir, should be resolved bilaterally and peacefully.
On April 22, terrorists gunned down 26 tourists in the picturesque Baisaran Valley, near Pahalgam in Kashmir. The responsibility for the attacks was claimed by The Resistance Front, which is a front for the Pakistan -based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The terrorist attack killed 25 Indian citizens and one Nepalese citizen.
In response to the terrorist attack, the Indian National Security Council, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a slew of measures which included scaling down diplomatic ties with Pakistan, suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, and closing the Wagah-Attari, the only operational land border crossing between India and Pakistan.The Indian government has also asked all Pakistani citizens who entered through this crossing to leave India before May 1, and has revoked visas of all Pakistani citizens who has come to India under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) visa-free program.
However, stopping trade with India could cause losses to the tune of $1.2 billion annually to Pakistan, according to statistics from the Indian Statistics Bureau. This would be s heavy blow to an already cash-strapped Pakistan.
According to 2023-24 data, the total trade volume between Pakistan and India reached 1.207 billion US dollars, with the balance of payment firmly in India ‘s favour. India’s exports last year exceeded 1.206 billion US dollars, while imports were only 480,000 US dollars.
Pakistan purchased a total of $687 million worth of petroleum products, $150.5 million worth of organic chemicals, $131.1 million worth of pharmaceuticals and $103.9 million worth of sugar from India
