Pakistan summons National Security Committee meeting after India's water treaty move

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has summoned an urgent meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Thursday to discuss the recent actions by India, suspending the Indus Water Treaty, ARY News reported.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that a meeting of the National Security Committee has been called on Thursday to decide on a response to India’s actions.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the meeting, which will also be attended by Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, federal ministers, and senior officials from the military and intelligence agencies.

India’s foreign ministry on Wednesday announced that the Attari and Wagah borders will be closed. Pakistani nationals will no longer be able to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption.

“The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect,” India’s top diplomat Vikram Misri told media persons in New Delhi.

The Indian foreign ministry also announced to India recall all its defense attachés from Islamabad.

The Indian foreign ministry maintained that the number of diplomatic staff will be reduced from 55 to 30, asking the military advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi to leave the country within a week.

India is further reducing diplomatic relations with Pakistan, as the ties were reduced to consular instead of high commissioner back in 2019.

The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan, signed on September 19, 1960, with the World Bank’s facilitation. The treaty governs the use of the Indus River system’s waters, which flow through both countries