The visas of Pakistani citizens in India stand revoked from April 27 and they must leave the country before then, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday following the Pahalgam terror attack.

India suspended visa services to Pakistani citizens with immediate effect. Medical visas issued to Pakistanis will be valid till April 29.

The ministry also “strongly advised” Indians to avoid travelling to Pakistan. “Those Indian nationals currently in Pakistan are also advised to return to India at the earliest,” it said.

The decision came in response to a terror attack in the Baisaran area of Anantnag district on Tuesday. Twenty-six persons were killed and 17 others were injured in the attack. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

On Wednesday, India said it was suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with immediate effect until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” stops its support for cross-border terrorism.

New Delhi also announced that the Attari-Wagah border crossing will 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 nationals in India have 48 hours to leave the country, the ministry had announced on Wednesday.

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

The SVES system allows 24 categories of individuals, including dignitaries, judges of higher courts, parliamentarians, senior officials, businessmen, journalists and sportsmen, to travel without a visa.

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

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

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

The announcements on Wednesday came following a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, the highest decision-making body on matters of national security.

This was 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 Thursday said that the punishment meted out by India for the attack in Pahalgam will be “bigger than what the terrorists imagine”.

Modi vowed that India would “identify, trace and punish every terrorist and their backers” involved in the attack and “pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.

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