NEW DELHI, April 24. /TASS/. In the wake of a terrorist attack in the Jammu and Kashmir states, India is "seriously considering" canceling its 2021 ceasefire with Pakistan as Islamabad has failed to fulfill its obligations at the line of control and the international border, News 18 TV channel reported quoting government sources.
They said India is taking this hard line because of Pakistan's inability to control cross-border terrorism despite repeated assurances that it would do so.
News 18 reported that India’s security services are fully prepared to lift the ceasefire and are ready to accept the consequences, if any. "India has every right to secure its borders and civilians, and a decision will be taken in that regard," the source said.
The TV channel said that despite the ceasefire agreement, terrorist groups based in Pakistan continue to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan also violated the ceasefire with sniper attacks and shelling, with the frequency of these incidents increasing in 2023 and 2024.
As part of the ceasefire deal, India and Pakistan agreed to install mechanisms for communication to resolve any unforeseen situation or misunderstanding.
Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since 1947, when British India, after gaining independence, split into two states along religious lines. There is no state border in Kashmir, its territory is divided by a line of control, along which India and Pakistan observe a ceasefire. There are active groups in the Indian part that advocate its separation from the country. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of supporting the extremists. Islamabad denies these accusations.
Terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir
On April 22, armed men killed 25 Indians and one Nepalese and wounded many more with machine gun fire in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam (Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir). The attackers, who were wearing fatigues, fled. According to The Times of India, citing intelligence sources, the terrorist act was committed by militants of The Resistance Front, the subversive wing of a radical group based in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba (prohibited in Russia).
After that, India almost halved its embassy staff in Islamabad, declared the military advisors of the Pakistani diplomatic mission in India persona non grata, and closed the key Attari checkpoint on the border with Pakistan. India also suspended an agreement with Islamabad on the allocation of water resources. The government immediately suspended the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens and will cancel previously issued ones starting on April 27.
The Pakistani Security Council said it was suspending all bilateral agreements with India, and promised to consider any attempt by India to divert the water flow from the Indus River as an act of war. Pakistan has also closed its airspace to India and declared Indian defense, naval and aviation advisors persona non grata.