Trade, ties and flights off-limits as Pakistan retaliates to India’s move

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Trade, ties and flights off-limits as Pakistan retaliates to India’s moves​

NSC meeting warns any Indian attempt to stop or divert flow of water under Indus Waters Treaty would be "act of war".

Dawn.com | Reuters | AFP
April 24, 2025


Pakistan on Thursday announced the closure of the Wagah Border, amid other measures, following a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) convened to formulate a response to India’s slew of aggressive measures against the country in the wake of an attack in India-held Kashmir that claimed over two dozen lives.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting, which was attended by top civil and military leadership and is deliberating “upon [the] internal and external situation arising after the Pahalgam false flag operation”.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the participants of the meeting discussed the national security environment and the regional situation, particularly in the wake of Pahalgam attack.

“Expressing concern over the loss of tourists’ lives, the committee reviewed the Indian measures announced on 23rd April 2025 and termed them unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit,” the statement added.

The full text of the statement can be read here.

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What we know so far:

• India suspends Indus Waters Treaty, further downgrades diplomatic ties after gunmen kill 26 in held Kashmir tourist hotspot
• Pakistani leaders rebuke allegations, term it ‘false flag operation’, call Delhi’s move ‘water warfare’
• PM Shehbaz chairing top security body’s meeting to mull response
• Modi vows to pursue attackers to ‘ends of the Earth’
• India suspends Pakistani govt’s X account in its country
• Kashmiri students report harassment, attacks in India

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The NSC also announced a series of measures in retaliation to the “reckless and irresponsible behaviour of India, which disregards international conventions, UN Security Council Resolutions and international obligations at will”.

Most prominantely, Pakistan suspended the 1972 Simla Agreement and said it would close the Wagah border with India.

“Pakistan shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India including but not limited to Simla Agreement in abeyance, till India desists from its manifested behaviour of fomenting terrorism inside Pakistan; trans-national killings; and non-adherence to international law and UN Resolutions on Kashmir,” the PMO statement said.

“Pakistan shall close down the Wagah Border Post, with immediate effect. All cross-border transit from India through this route shall be suspended, without exception,” the NSC decided, giving an April 30 deadline to those who crossed with “valid endorsements” to return through that route.

“Pakistan vehemently rejects the Indian announcement to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance,” the PMO statement said, noting the pact was a binding international agreement that contained no provision for unilateral suspension.

“Water is a vital national interest of Pakistan, a lifeline for its 240 million people and its availability will be safeguarded at all costs,” the NSC stressed.

“Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an Act of War and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power,” it warned.

As done by India, Pakistan also suspended all visas under the Saarc Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) issued to Indian nationals and deemed them cancelled with immediate effect, except for Sikh religious pilgrims.

“Indian nationals currently in Pakistan under SVES are instructed to exit within 48 hours, less Sikh pilgrims,” it added.

Pakistan also declared the Indian defence, naval and air advisors in Islamabad persona non grata, directing them to leave “immediately but not later than 30 April 2025”.

“These posts in the Indian High Commission are deemed annulled. Support staff of these advisors are also directed to return to India,” it said, stating that the strength of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad will be reduced to 30 diplomats and staff members from April 30.

In another step, Pakistan announced closure of its airspace to all India-owned or Indian-operated airlines with immediate effect.

Pakistan further announced the suspension of “all trade with India, including to and from any third country through Pakistan”.

The NSC underscored that Pakistan and its armed forces “remain fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any misadventure, as clearly demonstrated by its measured yet resolute response to India’s reckless incursion in February 2019”, the PMO statement added.

“The Pakistani nation remains committed to peace, but will never allow anyone to transgress its sovereignty, security, dignity and their inalienable rights,” the country’s top leadership asserted.

Meanwhile, New Delhi’s foreign ministry announced today that all Pakistani citizens in India must leave the country by April 29.

“In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Government of India has decided to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect,” AFP reported.

“All Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave India before the expiry of visas, as now amended.”

It will not impact Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi, although their numbers were reduced by Indian orders a day earlier.

A day ago, India shut borders, downgraded diplomatic ties and, in an unprecedented move, unilaterally announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) over what the BJP government and media claimed — without offering any evidence — was Islamabad’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism.

Today, Indian and international media, quoting India-held Kashmir’s Anantnag Police, reported that two of the suspected attackers were Pakistani and belonged to the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT).

Pakistan has denied any role in the attack and offered condolences for the loss of lives.

On Thursday morning, Indian media reported that the Modi-led regime had blocked the Pakistani government’s X account in the country and summoned the Pakistani charge d’affaires in New Delhi.

Among the Indian measures it announced, the IWT’s suspension stood out as the most severe. The 1960 pact, brokered by the World Bank, has endured through wars and decades of hostility. Its suspension, therefore, marked a watershed moment in the already fraught relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

India further downgraded diplomatic ties by closing down the main border transit point, framing the attack as a grave provocation that warranted significant diplomatic, economic, and logistical pressure on Pakistan.

The attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in India-occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.

A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Meeting of the National Security Committee starts,” a statement from the information ministry said shortly after 12:30pm.

A statement from the PM Office said that “important decisions were expected in the context of India’s unilateral and irresponsible actions as a result of the current situation” in occupied Kashmir.

 

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The NSC meeting was set to “discuss in detail India’s irresponsible actions after Pahalgam false flag operation”, Radio Pakistan said in a report.

It will review the response to “India’s hastily taken, impulsive and impractical water measures”, the report said, referring to the IWT.

A picture released by the PMO showed Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir present in the meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and some other ministers had reached the PM House in Islamabad, a Dawn.com correspondent said.

On the other hand, India has summoned Saad Ahmad Warraich, the top Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Amid rising tensions, India has withheld access to the official X account of the Government of Pakistan, NDTV reported.

India’s PM Narendra Modi has also called for a multi-party meeting with opposition parties to brief them on the government’s response to the attack.

This screengrab taken by an X user in India on April 24, 2025 shows an error upon attempting to access the Pakistani government’s official account. — shared with Dawn.com


Deputy PM Dar, appearing on Dunya TV late last night, had lashed out at India’s approach, calling it “immature” and “hasty”.

“India has not given any evidence. They have not shown any maturity in their response,” Dar said. “This is a non-serious approach. They started creating hype immediately after the incident.”

Diplomatic observers warn that the Indian response and Pakistan’s counter-messaging could push bilateral relations to new lows, further widening a rift that has persisted since the 2019 Pulwama-Balakot crisis. The treaty suspension, in particular, risks sparking long-term water disputes, while the downgrading of diplomatic ties could hinder any future de-escalation efforts.

Analyst Michael Kugelman said the attack posed a “very serious risk of a new crisis between India and Pakistan, and probably the most serious risk of a crisis since the brief military conflict that happened in 2019”.

Kugelman called India’s actions “highly consequential retaliations”, highlighting that “in 2019, India threatened to suspend IWT but didn’t follow through”.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office had yesterday expressed concern and condolences over the loss of tourists’ lives. The Indian government had vowed that a “loud and clear” response would be delivered to the attack.

Tuesday’s attack is seen as a setback to what Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have projected as a major achievement in revoking the special status occupied Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed and bringing peace and development to the long-troubled Muslim-majority region.

Ministers criticise ‘water warfare’ by India​

Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari said suspending the water treaty “in haste and without regard for its consequences amounts to water warfare”.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Power Division, the minister said: “India’s reckless suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move. Every drop is ours by right and we will defend it with full force — legally, politically and globally”.

Federal Minister for Water Resources Mian Moeen Wattoo said India could not take a unilateral decision on the IWT because it had the endorsement of international organisations.

Wattoo asserted that Pakistan would not succumb to “external pressure and any aggression from the Indian side would be responded to in a befitting manner”, according to a statement carried by the Associated Press of Pakistan.

Former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique noted that India took the measures “without proof or evidence”, terming the move “sad and unwise”.

“The Indus Water Treaty is not just an agreement between Pakistan and India, it was arbitrated by the World Bank and it has international guarantees,” he said in a televised statement.

He added: “It would have been better if they (India) had any evidence, they should have brought it forward or taken it to an international forum, but levelling allegations like this does not suit any government.”

Rafique highlighted that either of the two sides cannot unilaterally suspend the pact. “For a long time, Indian leaders were trying to break free from the treaty but this could not be possible,” he said.

“By disrupting the treaty, India has fanned the flames of tensions in the region,” the former minister noted.

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, also highlighted that the move was not in accordance with the treaty.

“This is always the stance India takes whenever such incidents happen. Without any investigation or evidence, they single out Pakistan as the culprit,” she told Geo News.

She stressed that the defence minister had clarified that Pakistan had “nothing to do with the attack”.

“Indian media is calling for revenge and military action, which in my opinion will be extremely dangerous,” she warned.

Modi vows to pursue attackers to ‘ends of the Earth’​

Meanwhile, in India, Modi vowed to punish all those responsible.

“I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” he said today in his first speech since Tuesday’s attack in the Himalayan region.

“We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”, he added, without naming any entity.

Modi, who was speaking in Bihar state to launch development projects, first led two minutes of silence in memory of those killed.

Narendra Modi speaks in Bihar on April 24, 2025. — screengrab via X/narendramodi

“I say this unequivocally: whoever has carried out this attack, and the ones who devised it, will be made to pay beyond their imagination”, he said, speaking in Hindi in front of a large crowd.

“They will certainly pay. Whatever little land these terrorists have, it’s time to reduce it to dust. The willpower of 1.4 billion Indians will break the backbone of these terrorists.”

“Terrorism will not go unpunished,” Modi said. “Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done.”

He finished his speech with rare comments in English, directing them to an audience abroad.

 

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Protests in Pakistan, India

In a related development, supporters of the political party Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) took to the streets in Islamabad and Lahore in protest against India’s suspension of the IWT.

Placards said India’s suspension of the treaty was “cruelty and crime”. Other banners described it as a “declaration of war”.

People shout slogans during an anti-India protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, on April 24, 2025. — AFP

Activists and members of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) party shout slogans during an anti-India protest in Lahore on April 24, 2025. — AFP

People shout slogans during an anti-India protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, on April 24, 2025. — AFP


Separately, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi’s diplomatic enclave today, shouting slogans and pushing against police barricades.

Aggressive measures by India​

The announcement of punitive measures came after Tuesday’s meeting of India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by PM Narendra Modi.

Among the measures, the CCS said the Attari border check post was closed; Pakistanis in India under the Saarc Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) had 48 hours to leave the country, while others could return by May 1; defence personnel at the Pakistani High Commission in India had a week to leave the country and staff at the high commissions would be reduced as well.

“The CCS was briefed in detail on the terrorist attack on 22 April 2025 in Pahalgam, in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were killed. A number of others sustained injuries. The CCS condemned the attack in the strongest terms and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and hoped for the early recovery of the injured,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a press conference after the CCS meeting.

The statement said: “Recognising the seriousness of this terrorist attack, the CCS decided upon the following measures,” detailing how the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance “with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.

“The Integrated Check Post Attari will be closed with immediate effect. Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return through that route before May 1, 2025,” it said.

Additionally, Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the Saarc visa scheme. “Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled. Any Pakistani national currently in India under SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India.”

Furthermore, defence attaches and advisers at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi had been declared ‘Persona Non Grata’ and given a week to leave India.

“India will be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisers from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad… The overall strength of the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions,” Misri said.

The statement also said that security forces had been put on high alert. “As with the recent extradition of Tahawwur Rana, India will be unrelenting in the pursuit of those who have committed acts of terror, or conspired to make them possible,” the foreign ministry statement said, referring to a suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Kashmiri students report harassment, attacks​

In the wake of a search operation launched by India yesterday, students from occupied Kashmir have reported harassment and intimidation in other cities, AFP quoted a student association as saying.

Kashmiri students in states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were allegedly asked to leave their rented apartments or university hostels yesterday, Jammu and Kashmir Students Association convenor Nasir Khuehami said.

At a university in Himachal Pradesh, students were harassed and physically attacked after hostel doors were broken, Khuehami said.

The students were allegedly called “terrorists”, he added.

“This is not just a security issue”, he said. “It is a deliberate and targeted campaign of hate and vilification against students from a particular region and identity”.

In Uttarakhand’s capital Dehradun, around 20 students fled to the airport yesterday following warnings from Hindu Raksha Dal, a fringe right-wing group.

The students said that the group threatened Kashmiri Muslim students with dire consequences if they did not leave town at the earliest.

‘Loud and clear’ response​

A day ago, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh vowed a swift response to those who carried out and planned the Pahalgam attack.

“Those responsible and behind such an act will very soon hear our response, loud and clear,” Singh said in a speech in New Delhi, a day after the attack.

“We won’t just reach those people who carried out the attack. We will also reach out to those who planned this from behind the scenes on our land.” Singh did not identify those he believes are responsible for the killings, but said that “India’s government will take every step that may be necessary and appropriate”.

A hospital list verified by police recorded 26 men who were killed on Tuesday afternoon, when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam, and raked crowds of visitors with automatic weapons. All those killed were listed as residents of India, except one man from Nepal.

Separately, an encounter was reportedly underway between Indian security forces and suspected militants in the Tangmarg area abutting Pahalgam, at the time of going to press.

In a separate incident in Baramulla on Wednesday, the army killed two people after a “heavy exchange of fire”, saying the gunmen were part of an “infiltration bid”, AFP reported.

 

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Pahalgam attack: FM Dar throws down gauntlet to India, asks for evidence of allegations against Pakistan​

Dawn.com | APP
April 24, 2025

Federal ministers address a press conference on Thursday. — DawnNewsTV

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday challenged India to present evidence, if it had any, of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference after a high-level meeting of the National Security Committee, FM Dar said: “India has time and again played the blame game and if there is proof of Pakistan’s involvement [in Pahalgam], please share it with us and the world.”

The attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.

A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

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Pakistan suspends visas for Indians after attack on tourists in Kashmir​

Emily McGarvey
BBC News

Reuters

Pakistan has responded with tit-for-tat measures against India as tensions soared following a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists.

Islamabad suspended all visas issued to Indian nationals under an exemption scheme with immediate effect, as well as expelling some of its neighbour's diplomats and closing its airspace to Indian flights.

Indian police have named three of four suspected gunmen behind the attack, saying two are Pakistani citizens and a third is a local Kashmiri man. Pakistan denies Indian claims that it played a role in the shooting.

Tuesday's attack saw a group of gunmen fire on tourists near Pahalgam, a resort in the disputed Himalayan region.

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say all three suspects named are members of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). None of the men have commented on the allegations.

A statement from Pakistan's National Security Committee rubbished attempts to link the Pahalgam attack to Pakistan, saying there had been no credible investigation or verifiable evidence.

Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed that "India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers and we will pursue them to the ends of the Earth."

He said that the "terrorists behind the killings, along with their backers, will get a punishment bigger than they can imagine".

"Our enemies have dared to attack the country's soul... India's spirit will never be broken by terrorism."

On Wednesday evening Delhi announced a raft of diplomatic measures against Islamabad in light of the killings in Kashmir - one of them was shutting the Attari-Wagah border between the two countries immediately.

India also cancelled visa services to Pakistani nationals "with immediate effect".
In its response, Pakistan also rejected India's suspension of the Indus Water Treaty - a six-decade-old water sharing treaty between the neighbours - adding that any attempt to stop or divert the water "will be considered as an Act of War".

The country has closed its airspace to all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines and suspended all trade with India.

It has also reduced the number of diplomats in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to 30 and asked Indian defence, naval and air advisers to leave Pakistan before 30 April.

• Kashmir attack risks India military escalation against Pakistan
• India closes main border crossing with Pakistan after attack
• Rage and despair after the attack

About 1,500 people across Kashmir have been detained for questioning in connection with the attack, police sources have told BBC News.

Schools, business and shops are reopening after a shutdown across the region following the shootings.

Police have offered a reward of 2m rupees [$23,000; £17,600] for anyone offering information about any of the attackers.

Visitors from different states in India were killed, with others seriously injured, in one of the deadliest attacks in recent years in the region.

An Indian naval officer on honeymoon, a tourist guide who was the sole breadwinner for his family, and a businessman holidaying with his wife and children were among the victims.

An all-party meeting in Jammu and Kashmir expressed deep shock and anguish at what it called a "barbaric attack".

Reuters

A family member of Niraj Udhwani, who was killed in the attack, before a funeral in Jaipur, India

The bodies of victims arriving in their home states around India are being given emotional farewells by their families and loved ones.

Meanwhile, reports are coming in from parts of India of Kashmiri students facing harassment in the aftermath of the killings.

A spokesperson for Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's National Conference party said several videos showing students being harassed in colleges and other places were being circulated online.

Nasir Khuehami, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association, shared a video of a right-wing Hindu group threatening to physically assault Kashmiri Muslim students in the northern state of Uttarakhand to ensure they leave.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify any of these clips.

EPA


Indian soldiers patrolling a street in Srinagar on Thursday

 

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1. And there's more from Pakistan​

   The statement adds that in the absence of any “credible investigation and verifiable evidence”, India’s attempts to link the Pahalgam attack with Pakistan are “frivolous, devoid of rationality and defeat logic”.
   It said that Pakistan and its armed forces “remain fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
   
   
   

2. More from Pakistan’s response​

   Islamabad criticised India’s five-point diplomatic action unveiled yesterday, describing it as "unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit" and also announced the following measures in response :
   • Suspended all visas issued to Indian nationals under an exemption scheme with immediate effect.
   • Reduced the number of diplomats in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to 30 and asked Indian defence, naval and air advisers to leave Pakistan before 30 April
   • Closed its airspace to all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines
   • Suspended all trade with India
   
   
   

3. Pakistan announces retaliatory response​

   Pakistan’s National Security Committee has responded to India’s retaliatory measures that followed the Pahalgam attacks.
   In a strongly worded statement from Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's office, Islamabad said it rejected the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India, adding that any attempt to stop or divert the water “will be considered as an Act of War" and "responded with full force across the complete spectrum of National Power".
   It has also decided to put on hold all bilateral agreements with India and said it was closing down the Wagah Border Post with immediate effect.
   

 

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India blocks access to Government of Pakistan’s social media account​

Account now shows a message stating it has been "withheld in India in response to a legal demand."

News Desk
April 24, 2025

India has blocked the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the Government of Pakistan within its territory, following the deadly attack in Pahalgam, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), where 26 people were killed and 17 injured.

The account now shows a message stating it has been "withheld in India in response to a legal demand."

The move is part of a series of diplomatic and strategic actions taken by New Delhi in response to the incident.

Screenshot of the Government of Pakistan's X account (April 24, 2025). —X

Other retaliatory measures include the immediate suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a key water-sharing agreement mediated by the World Bank in 1960.

India cited Pakistan’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism as justification for the suspension.

In addition, India closed the Attari-Wagah border—the only land crossing between the two nations—and cancelled all South Asian regional visas issued to Pakistani nationals. Those already in India under such visas were given 48 hours to leave.

India also declared all Pakistani defence advisers in New Delhi persona non grata and is recalling its own military staff from Islamabad. The staff at India’s High Commission in Pakistan is being reduced from 55 to 30.

 

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What Pakistan's airspace ban means for Indian air travel​

Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority issued a NOTAM, confirming the closure of its airspace to Indian-registered airlines

News Desk
April 25, 2025

Pakistan announced the closure of its airspace to all Indian airlines on Thursday, escalating tensions following New Delhi's aggressive measures in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives earlier this week.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officially issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), confirming the closure of its airspace to Indian-registered airlines.

This move is expected to severely impact Indian carriers, which rely on Pakistani airspace for numerous daily overflights, with routes from major Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa, and Lucknow to destinations in the Middle East, Europe, and beyond.

Reports from Indian media indicate that Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express, and SpiceJet have confirmed their flights will now follow longer routes, primarily over the Arabian Sea, leading to extended travel times.

Impact on Travel Times




The detour will increase the duration of some flights to the US and Europe by up to 2 to 2.5 hours, according to airline officials. The final impact on flight duration will vary based on the alternate routes chosen, with multiple options currently under consideration.

Rising Airfares

Due to longer flight times and the need for additional fuel, airfares are expected to rise by 8-12 per cent in the short term. Airlines will have to carry more fuel for longer journeys, potentially limiting the number of passengers they can accommodate, further driving up ticket prices.

Financial Impact

This isn't the first time Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines. The last such closure, following the 2019 Pulwama attack, resulted in around ₹700 crore in additional costs for Indian airlines due to higher fuel expenses and operational disruptions.

Increased Costs

With the need to carry more fuel and reduced payload capacity, airlines will face higher operational costs, potentially impacting their profit margins. The financial sustainability of airlines could be strained by the combined impact of longer routes, higher fuel consumption, and restrictions on carrying more passengers.