Tag: India

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US sub sinks Iranian warship in Indian Ocean, Hegseth says

An American submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, the US defence secretary has said.

Pete Hegseth said the ship was sunk by a torpedo on Tuesday and died a “quiet death”. He did not name the vessel.

His announcement came after Sri Lanka said its navy had responded to a distress call on Wednesday morning from an Iranian ship, the Iris Dena, which had gone down about 40km (25 miles) from its southern coastline.

Eighty bodies from the frigate were found by rescuers, a Sri Lankan defence official told BBC Sinhala. Another 32 were rescued, the country’s navy said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had “perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores”.

“Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning,” he wrote in a post on X early on Thursday.

“Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set.”

A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said some 180 people were believed to have been aboard the Iris Dena, based on the ship’s documentation.

The survivors were “seriously injured” and had been taken to a hospital in the southern port of Galle, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.

Hegseth told a news conference on Wednesday thata US submarine had sunk an Iranian warship “that thought it was safe in international waters”.

He also claimed it was “the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two”.

While it is the first time since 1945 that an American submarine has sunk an enemy ship this way, the UK and Pakistan have both sunk vessels using torpedoes since then.

Video released by the US Department of Defense showed a ship being struck, causing the stern to rise up before exploding.

Earlier, Sri Lankan navy spokesman Budhika Sampath had rejected reports that the Iris Dena had been attacked by a submarine.

He added that, at the time rescue operations were launched, rescuers had not seen the vessel – nor any other ships in the region – but saw oil patches and life rafts floating on the water.

Though the ship’s location “was beyond our waters”, Sampath said, “it was within our search and rescue region. So we were obliged to respond as per international obligations”.

First launched in 2015, the Iris Dena is a destroyer attached to Iran’s Southern Fleet, which is tasked with deployments in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

It had recently participated in International Fleet Review 2026, a military exercise hosted by India.

The sinking of the Iris Dena comes as the US and Israel have continued to launch air strikes on Iran for a fifth day, with the Israeli military saying it had hit “security headquarters” across the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.

Israel has also conducted air strikes on Lebanon and has sent ground forces into the south of the country after armed group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones at Israel.

Iran appears to have continued to carry out retaliatory attacks. New strikes were reported in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Wednesday, while Turkey said “Nato defences” shot down an Iranian missile heading towards Turkish territory.

Sri Lanka has remained neutral in the conflict. It has refrained from taking any side, calling for “restraint and immediate de-escalation” from “all concerned parties”. (BBC)

Herath, its foreign affairs minister, paid tribute to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini after he was assassinated on Saturday.

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India and Canada reset ties with ‘landmark’ nuclear energy deal

India and Canada have announced a host of agreements, including a 10-year nuclear energy deal, after their prime ministers met in Delhi to reset ties that plummeted due to diplomatic tensions.

Narendra Modi and Mark Carney also struck agreement in areas such as technology, critical minerals, space, defence and education.

Carney said they agreed to conclude a free trade deal, years in the making, by the end of 2026. Both countries want to reduce exposure to punitive US trade tariffs.

Under Carney, the two governments are trying to repair ties that were strained when his predecessor accused Delhi of a link to the 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

India vociferously rejected the allegation by Justin Trudeau.

Trade and diplomatic relations almost came to a standstill as both sides expelled each other’s diplomats and cancelled visa services. Canada hosts a huge expatriate Indian community.

But since Carney took office last year, the relationship has been cautiously rebuilt —helped by the fact that his government has said it believes India is not currently linked to violent crimes or threats on Canadian soil.

Some in Canada have countered that claim, however, including a Liberal MP from Carney’s own party and members of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, who say they believe they continue to be targeted by India.

Canada’s spy agency listed India late last year as one of the countries carrying out espionage and foreign interference in the country, along with Russia, China and Iran.

In a statement on Monday, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said its “threat assessment of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against Canada has not changed”.

Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand has distanced herself from comments made by a senior Canadian official saying that India had ceased all foreign interference in Canada.

“The words of the senior official are not words that I personally would use,” she told reporters in Delhi after Carney’s meeting with Modi on Monday.

But Anand defended Canada’s decision to re-engage with India, saying “we need to have these diplomatic conversations in order to make progress”.

Carney has not yet spoken to Canadian reporters since his trip began. His office cancelled a planned news conference following the meeting with Modi, citing his tight schedule.

The case of four men charged over Nijjar’s killing is still before the courts.

At talks in Delhi, both Carney and Modi underscored India and Canada’s long-standing relationship, mutual goals and close people-to-people ties.

“In civil nuclear energy, we have reached a landmark deal for long-term uranium supply. We will also work together on small modular reactors and advanced reactors,” Modi told reporters after their meeting at Hyderabad House in Delhi.

He described the two countries as “natural partners in technology and innovation” and said they would enhance co-operation in AI, supercomputing and semiconductors, as well as jointly host a renewable energy summit.

Carney said Canada was well positioned to contribute to energy-hungry India’s nuclear fuel needs and added that the two countries were launching a strategic energy partnership.

He hailed the progress made in rebuilding relations.

“There has been more engagement between the Canadian and Indian governments in the last year than there has been in more than two decades combined,” he said.

On trade, Modi said: “Our target is to reach $50bn in bilateral trade. This is why we have decided to finalise a comprehensive economic partnership soon.”

Carney said he wanted to reach a deal on the “ambitious agreement” by the end of the year. It’s been discussed on-and-off for the past 15 years so concluding it would be a significant achievement.

Analysts say that Carney’s decision to put diplomatic tensions behind him and extend an olive branch to India is a pragmatic one, based on present day geopolitical shifts.

The same holds true for India, which is looking to forge new trade partnerships to diversify its imports and also reduce its reliance on Russia for its energy needs.

Surveys suggest a majority of the Canadian public support re-engaging with India. One recent poll conducted by Angus Reid found that half believe it is the “right time” to restore ties.

The poll also suggests that more Canadians have a favourable view of India (30%) than of the US (26%), as Canada continues to be squeezed by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Earlier on Monday, Carney met India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar where the two discussed charting a “forward-looking partnership”.

Carney’s four-day trip began with a visit to the financial capital, Mumbai, where he met business leaders and ministers on 28 February with a view to boost trade and investment in India.

After concluding his trip in Delhi, Carney is set to travel to Australia and then Japan as part of his strategy to diversify Canada’s trade and invite new investments. (BBC)

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Messi’s tour of India gets off to chaotic start with fans throwing bottles

Lionel Messi’s much-hyped tour of India got off to a rocky start Saturday with angry fans throwing bottles and attempting to vandalize a stadium after many of them failed to get more than just a glimpse of their hero.

The Times of India reported that many ticket-holders said that they failed to see Messi at all — either in person or on the stadium’s big screens — despite waiting for hours.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee apologized to the Argentine soccer star for the “mismanagement” of the event.

“I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium,” Banerjee wrote on social media, where she also apologized to fans who had expected more after paying for tickets.

Banerjee said a committee would be constituted to “conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident, fix responsibility, and recommend measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.”

Messi’s three-day “GOAT India Tour” was to bring the World Cup winner from Kolkata to Hyderabad and then Mumbai before concluding in New Delhi on Monday. He was joined by longtime teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul.

Earlier Saturday, Messi remotely “unveiled” a 21-meter statue of himself in Kolkata. (JapanToday)

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Suicide bombing in Islamabad kills 12, says Pakistan’s interior minister

A suicide attack outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has killed 12 people and injured at least 27 others, the country’s interior minister said.

Mohsin Naqvi said a bomber was planning to attack the district courthouse but was unable to get inside.

Naqvi said authorities would prioritise identifying the bomber, and that those involved would be brought to justice.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has alleged that extremist groups “actively backed by India” were involved.

A spokesperson for the Indian government denied what they described as “baseless and unfounded allegations”.

In a statement, Sharif said that “terrorist attacks on unarmed citizens of Pakistan by India’s terrorist proxies are condemnable”.

Jumaat Ul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), has claimed responsibility, according to local media. But two local journalists have told the BBC that the TTP’s central leadership has sent messages to them saying it has no link to the explosion.

Suicide blasts in Islamabad have been rare in recent years. Footage from the scene on Tuesday showed the remains of a burnt-out car and a police cordon in place.

The 27 people injured are receiving medical treatment, Naqvi said.

He added that the attacker detonated the bomb close to a police car after waiting for up to 15 minutes.

Footage of the aftermath showed plumes of smoke rising from a charred vehicle behind a security barrier. The incident occurred at 12:39 local time (07:39 GMT).

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said he “strongly condemned the suicide blast”.

A lawyer who said he was parking his car outside the court at the time described hearing a “loud bang”.

Rustam Malik told AFP news agency “it was complete chaos”.

“Lawyers and people were running inside the complex,” he added. “I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire.”

In a separate incident on Monday, a car exploded in India’s capital Delhi, killing eight people and injuring a number of others.

The Indian government has not called the incident a terror attack, although the case has been referred to the country’s anti-terror body.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said following the attack: “The conspirators behind this heinous act will not be spared. All those responsible will be brought to justice, no matter how deep the conspiracy runs.”

There is, however, no official word yet on what led to the blast.

The last time Pakistan’s capital was targeted by a suicide bombing was three years ago when a police officer was killed and several others injured.

There have been suicide attacks in other parts of the country in the years since but not in Islamabad. (BBC)

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Musk’s X to appeal Indian court ruling on Secretive Content removal system

Social media platform X said on Monday it plans to appeal an Indian court order that would allow over two million police officers nationwide to issue arbitrary takedown requests via a secretive online portal called the Sahyog.

“We will appeal this order to defend free expression,” X said in a post on the platform, in its first statement since the High Court of Karnataka ruled last week that there was no legal merit to the company’s legal challenge to quash India’s content removal mechanisms, according to Reuters.

“The Sahyog enables officers to order content removal based solely on allegations of “illegality,” without judicial review or due process for the speakers, and threatens platforms with criminal liability for non-compliance,” X said on Monday.

X has locked horns with New Delhi in the past, equating the government’s mechanisms with censorship. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the new system tackles a proliferation of unlawful content and ensures accountability online.

X owner Elon Musk has clashed with authorities in several countries over compliance and content takedown demands.

However, the company’s Indian lawsuit targeted the entire basis for tightened internet regulation in the world’s most populous nation.

Modi’s government has ramped up efforts to police the internet since 2023 by allowing many more officials to file takedown orders and submit them directly to tech firms through a website launched in October. (Channels)

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China’s new K visa beckons foreign tech talent as U.S. hikes H-1B fee


China’s new visa program aimed at attracting foreign tech talent kicks off this week, a move seen boosting Beijing’s fortunes in its geopolitical rivalry with Washington as a new U.S. visa policy prompts would-be applicants to scramble for alternatives.

While China has no shortage of skilled local engineers, the programme is part of an effort by Beijing to portray itself as a country welcoming foreign investment and talent, as rising trade tensions due to U.S. tariffs cloud the country’s economic outlook.

China has taken a series of measures to boost foreign investment and travel, opening more sectors to overseas investors and offering visa waivers for citizens from most European countries, Japan and South Korea among others.

“The symbolism is powerful: while the U.S. raises barriers, China is lowering them,” said Iowa-based immigration attorney Matt Mauntel-Medici, referring to China’s new visa category, called the K visa, which launches on Wednesday.

The K visa, announced in August, targets young foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates and promises to allow entry, residence and employment without a job offer, which could appeal to foreign workers looking for alternatives to U.S. job opportunities.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, widely used by tech companies to hire skilled foreign workers.

“The U.S. has definitely shot itself in the foot on H-1Bs, and the timing is exquisite for China’s K visa,” said Michael Feller, chief strategist at Geopolitical Strategy.

Other countries including South Korea, Germany and New Zealand are also loosening visa rules to attract skilled migrants.

Immigration experts say the main attraction of the K visa is no requirement of a sponsoring employer, which has been regarded as one of the biggest hurdles for those seeking H-1B visas.

The H-1B visa requires employer sponsorship and is subject to a lottery system, with only 85,000 slots available annually. The new $100,000 fee could further deter first-time applicants.

“It’s an appealing alternative for Indian STEM professionals seeking flexible, streamlined visa options,” said Bikash Kali Das, an Indian student at Sichuan University.

India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries.

Despite its promise, the K visa faces hurdles. Chinese government guidelines mention vague “age, educational background and work experience” requirements.

There are also no details on financial incentives, employment facilitation, permanent residency, or family sponsorship. Unlike the U.S., China does not offer citizenship to foreigners except in rare cases.

China’s State Council did not respond to a request for comment asking for more details on the logistics and underlying strategy of the K visa.

Language is another barrier: most Chinese tech firms operate in Mandarin, limiting opportunities for non-Chinese speakers.

Political tensions between Delhi and Beijing could also become a factor that could limit the number of Indian K visa applicants China is willing to accept, experts said.

“China will need to ensure Indian citizens feel welcome and can do meaningful work without Mandarin,” said Feller.

China’s talent recruitment has traditionally focused on China-born scientists abroad and overseas Chinese.

Recent efforts include home-purchase subsidies and signing bonuses of up to 5 million yuan ($702,200). These have drawn back U.S.-based Chinese STEM talent, especially amid Washington’s growing scrutiny on ties to China.

“The recruitment effort targeting Indian tech talent in China is growing but remains moderate compared to the more intensive, well-established, and well-funded initiatives aimed at repatriating Chinese STEM talent,” said Sichuan University’s Das.

A Chinese STEM graduate who recently got a job offer from a Silicon Valley-based tech company was also sceptical about the K visa’s prospects.

“Asian countries like China don’t rely on immigration and local Chinese governments have many ways to attract domestic talent,” he said, declining to be named for privacy reasons.

The U.S. has over 51 million immigrants — 15% of its population — compared to just 1 million foreigners in China, less than 1% of its population.

While China is unlikely to significantly alter its immigration policy to allow in millions of foreign workers, analysts say the K visa could still boost Beijing’s fortunes in its geopolitical rivalry with Washington.

“If China can attract even a sliver of global tech talent, it will be more competitive in cutting-edge technology,” Feller said. (JapanToday)

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Putin, Modi, Erdogan to attend Tianjin Summit as Xi welcomes world leaders

Chinese President Xi Jinping began welcoming dignitaries including United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and Egyptian Premier Moustafa Madbouly on Saturday before a summit attended by leaders from more than 20 countries.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering will be held in the northern port city of Tianjin on Sunday and Monday, days before a massive military parade in nearby Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will be among some 26 world leaders slated to attend the parade.

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. Sixteen more countries are affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also due to arrive in Tianjin ahead of the summit.

China and Russia have used the organisation — sometimes touted as a counter to the Western-dominated NATO military alliance — to deepen ties with Central Asian states.

Other leaders including Iranian and Turkish presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also attend the bloc’s largest meeting since its founding in 2001.

Multiple bilateral meetings are expected to be held on the sidelines of the summit.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin will discuss the Ukraine conflict with Erdogan on Monday.

Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this year that have failed to break the deadlock over how to end the conflict, triggered when Moscow launched its invasion of its pro-European neighbour in February 2022.

Putin will also talk about Tehran’s nuclear programme on Monday with his Iranian counterpart Pezeshkian, a meeting that comes as Iran faces fresh Western pressure.

Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, triggered a “snapback” mechanism on Thursday to reinstate UN sanctions on Tehran for failing to comply with commitments made in a 2015 deal over its nuclear programme.

Russia’s foreign ministry warned that the reimposition of sanctions against Iran risked “irreparable consequences”.

Tehran and Moscow have been bolstering political, military and economic ties over the past decade as Russia drifted away from the West.

Relations between them grew even closer after Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine.

Modi’s visit comes after a trip to Japan, and is his first to China since 2018.

The world’s two most populous nations are intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia and fought a deadly border clash in 2020.

A thaw began last October when Modi met with Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia. (Punch)

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Fuel to engines of Air India plane that crashed cut off moments after take-off, report finds

Fuel to the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last month appears to have cut off shortly after take-off, a preliminary report has found.

According to the report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), switches in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s cockpit that controlled fuel moved to a “CUTOFF” position.

It said: “Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of one second.

“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.”

There was then confusion in the cockpit. In the voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he “cut off”. The other pilot responds that he did not do so.

The 15-page report did not identify which comments were made by the flight’s captain and which were made by the first officer. One of the pilots made a “mayday, mayday, mayday” call just before the crash.

Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on the 787.

Flipping to cutoff almost immediately cuts the engines, and is most often used to turn the engines off once a plane has arrived at its airport gate and in certain emergency situations, such as an engine fire – though both switches together are rarely used simultaneously.

The report does not indicate there was any emergency requiring an engine cutoff. It also does not give a conclusion as to how the switches moved.

However, aviation expert David Learmount told Sky News “it sounds deliberate”, but also noted “there are cases of pilots carrying out an incorrect action instead of what they should be doing”.

Mr Learmount said the only action the pilots needed to conduct at the time was retracting the plane’s undercarriage, but this was not done.

He added: “Was that it? These switches are nowhere near the undercarriage lever and look totally different. The fuel switches cannot be turned on or off by mistake. They have to be pulled out before selecting up (run) or down (cut off).”

Similarly, Tim Atkinson, a pilot and aviation consultant, told Sky News’ Gillian Joseph “there are very few situations or circumstances which would explain this”.

He explained: “One would be an utterly extraordinary human error, an unintentional act, and the other – I’m very sorry to say – would be an intentional act. And that’s not a suggestion or allegation, it’s simply an analysis of the small amount of information that we have at hand at this moment.”

One of the engines was able to be restarted, but could not reverse the plane’s deceleration, the report found.

India’s AAIB said in its report: “At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to Boeing 787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers.”

No significant bird activity was observed in the vicinity of the plane’s flight path, the report said. The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall, it added.

The plane plummeted into a busy area, killing 241 passengers and 19 others on the ground while incinerating everything around it.

The only surviving passenger was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was sitting next to an emergency exit and, according to police, “managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door”.

The plane crashed and struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, with the report stating: “The aircraft was destroyed due to impact with the buildings on the ground and subsequent fire.”

The plane’s two black boxes, which combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, were recovered in the days after the crash.

They provide vital data such as altitude, airspeed and final pilot conversations, which can help narrow down the possible causes behind a crash.

The AAIB’s report is based on the initial findings of the probe, marking 30 days since the crash. It said the investigation is continuing. A final report is expected within a year. (SkyNews)

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Dalai Lama confirms he will have a successor after his death

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has confirmed he will have a successor, putting to rest speculation over whether the 600-year-old institution will end when he dies.

In a video message keenly-awaited by his followers, he said only the trust that he founded could appoint his successor and “no-one else has any authority to interfere in this matter”.

According to Tibetan tradition, Dalai Lamas are “reincarnated” after they die. China annexed Tibet in 1950 and the current Dalai Lama lives in exile in India, making succession a highly contentious issue.

Beijing rejected the statement, saying his successor would be from inside China and must be approved by the government.

Hundreds of followers gathered on Wednesday to hear the long-awaited announcement in the Indian town of Dharamshala where the Dalai Lama lives.

The Dalai Lama Library and Archive centre, where the video message was broadcast, resembled a sea of maroon with monks from all over the world in attendance.

“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama’s statement said.

He reiterated that “the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama… should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition”.

Dharamshala is holding the Dalai Lama’s milestone 90th birthday celebrations which began on Monday – his birthday according to the Tibetan lunar calendar – and will conclude on 6 July, his official birthday.

Celebrations will be attended by more than 7,000 guests, including a number of Indian ministers. Hollywood actor Richard Gere, a long-time follower, is also taking part.

In the past, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism had been torn between whether to continue with the post of Dalai Lama or not. A few years ago, he said his successor might be a girl, or that there might be no successor at all.

But in recent years, he had also said that if there was widespread support among Tibetans-in-exile for the post – which there is – then it would continue and his office would choose a successor.

He has always insisted that his successor must be born outside China and his reiteration of the same on Wednesday did not go down well with Beijing.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation must comply with Chinese laws and regulations as well as “religious rituals and historical conventions” and would need to be approved by Beijing.

Even though the Dalai Lama has always advocated a “middle way” to resolve the status of Tibet – genuine self-rule within China – Beijing regards him as a separatist. It says the standard of living of people in Tibet has greatly improved under its rule and denies suppressing their human rights and freedom of expression.

The Dalai Lama’s message “affirming that the continuation of the institution” has been welcomed by his followers.

Tsayang Gyatso, a 40-year-old businessman, said that for most Tibetans, the announcement is “a great relief and a moment of happiness”.

“I always had a belief that the reincarnation will come. But having heard it from His Holiness, I feel elated,” he told the BBC in Dharamshala.

Mr Gyatso, who had travelled from Delhi, said he felt “blessed to be here in person to witness His Holiness’s birthday”.

He said there was “a lot of propaganda from China on the appointment of the next Dalai Lama” which made him fear that the appointment process could be corrupted “but all that has been put to rest by His Holiness’s announcement”. (BBC)

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India PM vows to pursue Kashmir attackers to ”ends of the Earth”

India and Pakistan exchanged an escalating series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures on Thursday after New Delhi blamed its arch-rival for backing a deadly shooting attack in contested Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue and punish the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism”.

“I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” Modi said in his first speech since the attack in the Himalayan region. “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.

Indian police in the region have identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani.

The attack at Pahalgam in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir was the deadliest for a quarter of a century and marked a dramatic shift with the targeting of civilians, rather than Indian security forces.

New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties and withdrew visas for Pakistanis on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a rare meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) with top military officials, including powerful Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, in the capital Islamabad in response to India’s accusations and measures.

“Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” a statement released by Sharif’s office said after the NSC meeting.

“In the absence of any credible investigation and verifiable evidence, attempts to link the Pahalgam attack with Pakistan are frivolous, devoid of rationality and defeat logic,” it said.

The slew of tit-for-tat measures announced by the Pakistan government include expelling Indian diplomats and cancelling visas for Indian nationals with the exception of Sikh pilgrims.

Islamabad said Indian military advisers were “persona non grata” and were “directed to leave Pakistan immediately”.

The main Wagah border crossing in Punjab will close on both sides.

Pakistan also warned that it would consider any attempt by India to stop the supply of water from the Indus River an “act of war”.

Indian police say the three gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organisation.

Police have offered a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest. (RFI)