India downgrades diplomatic ties with Pakistan after deadly Kashmir attack on tourists

India has sharply downgraded its diplomatic relations with Pakistan following a devastating attack that killed 26 people at a popular tourist site in Jammu and Kashmir — the deadliest assault on civilians in the country in nearly 20 years.

On Wednesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced a series of strong retaliatory measures after a special meeting of the country’s security cabinet. Misri said evidence pointed to cross-border connections behind Tuesday’s attack in the Baisaran valley near Pahalgam, a scenic area in the Himalayan region.

Among the key steps, India will immediately suspend the Indus Waters Treaty — a decades-old water-sharing agreement between the two countries. Furthermore, defence advisers in the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi have been expelled, and the Indian diplomatic staff in Islamabad will be reduced from 55 to 30 members.

India also ordered the closure of the main border crossing and suspended special visa permissions for Pakistani nationals traveling to India.

According to police, the attack killed 25 Indian tourists and one Nepalese citizen. Seventeen others were injured in the shooting, which targeted a group of visitors in a region that had seen a revival in tourism in recent years, following a lull in insurgent violence.

A group calling itself “Kashmir Resistance” claimed responsibility for the massacre in a social media post. The group condemned what it called the “demographic changes” caused by the settlement of over 85,000 non-local individuals in the region.

Indian security agencies believe the group is a front for Pakistan-based militant organizations including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen — both of which have been linked to past attacks in the region.

This incident marks the worst civilian-targeted violence in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks and has stirred national outrage. Funerals for the victims began on Wednesday amid heightened security.

Pakistan, however, has denied any involvement. In a statement, it rejected India's accusations and reiterated that it offers only "moral, political and diplomatic" support to Kashmir’s separatist movement.

Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari

Additional reporting by Sakshi Dayal, Nigam Prusty, Surbhi Misra (New Delhi), Sudipto Ganguly, Shilpa Jamkhandikar (Mumbai), and Charlotte Greenfield (Islamabad). Writing by YP Rajesh. Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Sharon Singleton, and Aidan Lewis.