The official X (formerly Twitter) account of the government of Pakistan has been withheld in India amid heightened tensions between the two countries in light of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which resulted in the deaths of 26 people.
The move follows New Delhi’s announcement of a series of stringent retaliatory measures, including the suspension of the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty and the expulsion of senior Pakistani diplomatic staff.
The diplomatic fallout comes a day after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, convened to determine India’s response to the April 23 attack in Pahalgam, which left 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national dead. The CCS resolved to take sweeping action against Pakistan, which New Delhi accuses of harbouring and supporting cross-border terrorism.
At a press briefing on Wednesday evening, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the measures. Chief among them is the downgrading of diplomatic missions in each country. Both the Indian and Pakistani high commissions will reduce their personnel strength from 55 to 30, to be completed by May 1.
