Ensure no Pakistani stays in India beyond deadline, HM tells states
New Delhi, April 25: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday called up the chief ministers of all the states and asked them to ensure that no Pakistani stays in India beyond the deadline set for leaving the country, sources said.
India on Thursday announced revoking all visas issued to Pakistani nationals from April 27 and advised Indian nationals residing in Pakistan to return home at the earliest, as tensions between the two countries escalated over the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, on Tuesday.
The home minister personally called up the chief ministers of all the states and asked them to ensure that no Pakistani stays in India beyond the deadline, sources said.
The chief ministers were also told to identify the Pakistani nationals staying in their respective areas and ensure their deportation, the sources said.
The revocation of visas does not apply to the long-term visas already issued to Hindu Pakistani nationals, which “remain valid”.
India announced suspending visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect over the cross-border links to the Pahalgam attack, the worst terror strike targeting civilians in the country since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
In addition, the government on Wednesday announced that Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption scheme (SVES) and any Pakistani national currently in India under the SVES visa has 48 hours to leave the country. The deadline ends Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that India will “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist and their “backers” involved in the Pahalgam carnage and pursue the killers to the “ends of the earth”, as India stepped up the diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.
Delivering a stern message in his first public speech after the Pahalgam attack at Madhubani in Bihar on Thursday, Modi vowed that terrorism will not go “unpunished” and that every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done, adding that India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism.
Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance
Simultenously, India also informed Pakistan of its decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance with immediate effect, saying Pakistan has breached its conditions.
Sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting Jammu and Kashmir impedes India’s rights under the Indus Waters Treaty, Water Resources Secretary Debashree Mukherjee said in a letter addressed to her Pakistani counterpart, Syed Ali Murtaza.
‘India won’t allow single drop of water into
Pakistan: Union minister
The government is working on a strategy to ensure that not a single drop of water flows from India into Pakistan, Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil asserted on Friday following a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah.
Paatil told PTI that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a slew of directives, and the meeting was held to follow up on them and Shah made several suggestions at the meeting for their effective implementation.
“We will ensure that not a single drop of water flows into Pakistan from India,” he said.
Shah held the meeting to discuss the future course of action following India’s decision to keep in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan after Tuesday’s Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
Paatil later posted on X, “The Modi government’s historic decision on the Indus Waters Treaty is lawful and in national interest. We will ensure that not a single drop of Indus water flows into Pakistan.” Sources said the government is working on a long-term plan to ensure the effective implementation of its decisions.
Besides Paatil, senior officials of several ministries attended the meeting, they added.
India has already informed Pakistan of its decision to keep the treaty in abeyance with immediate effect, saying that the neighbouring country has breached its conditions by targeting Jammu and Kashmir with sustained cross-border terrorism.
Paatil said India has sent a strong message to Pakistan that it will not tolerate terrorism at all.
191 Pak nationals return home
A total of 191 Pakistani nationals visiting India returned home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Punjab’s Amritsar on Friday, after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said.
A total of 287 Indian nationals, who were visiting the neighbouring country, have also returned, they added.
A few women married in Pakistan but possessing Indian passports alleged that they were facing problems in going back, despite carrying the required documents. (PTI)