India has decided to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with immediate effect until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” stops its support for cross-border terrorism, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Wednesday.

The decision by the Cabinet Committee on Security, the highest body on matters of national security, came a day after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 persons and left 17 others injured.

New Delhi said on Wednesday that the Attari-Wagah border checkpost will to be closed with immediate effect.

Pakistani citizens will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme. Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani citizens will be deemed cancelled and Pakistani national in India under the SVES visa have 48 hours to leave the country, the ministry said.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, a regional bloc, comprises India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also announced on Wednesday that India was declaring the Pakistani defence, military, naval and air advisers in New Delhi as persona non-grata. The Pakistani officer were ordered to leave India within a week.

In diplomatic parlance, a persona non-grata is a foreign diplomat or staff who is deemed unwelcome by the host country.

New Delhi said it will also withdraw its own defence, navy and air advisers from Islamabad.

“The overall strength of the high commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by 01 May 2025,” Misri added.

India and Pakistan signed the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 with the World Bank as an additional signatory. The pact sought to divide the water of the Indus river and its tributaries equitably among the two countries. Under the treaty, water from three eastern rivers, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej, were allocated to India and that from the three western rivers – Chenab, Indus and Jhelum – to Pakistan.

The treaty also permits both countries to use the other’s rivers for certain purposes, such as small hydroelectric projects that require little or no water storage.

The terror attack on Tuesday took place in the Baisaran area, which is located nearly 4 km from the tourist spot of Pahalgam in Anantnag district.

Two to three militants fired indiscriminately at a group of tourists, most of whom were from outside the state.

Of those who died, six were from Maharashtra, three each from Gujarat and Karnataka, two from West Bengal, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala. One of those who died was from Nepal.

This is the first major terrorist attack targeting civilians in Kashmir since the Union government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in New Delhi after cutting short his Saudi Arabia visit. Modi held a meeting with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Delhi airport.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Pahalgam on Wednesday, where he met the survivors of the attack and paid homage to those who lost their lives. He also visited the site of the attack.

Also read: Why Baisaran was the ideal spot to try to derail J&K’s journey to peace