Pakistan, the globally acknowledged epicentre of terrorism, once again and successfully carried out a major terror strike on April 22, 2025, in the beautiful Pahalgam meadows of the Anantnag district in Jammu & Kashmir, killing in cold blood 26 innocent unarmed tourists and injuring many more. These tourists were first asked about their religion, and subsequently, all those who were non-Muslims were slaughtered with their wives and children wailing and helplessly looking on. That such an inhuman act of targeting civilians and on the basis of their religion was perpetrated for the first time in Jammu & Kashmir in decades is a cause of great concern for the entire nation. Though Jammu & Kashmir has been the victim of Pak-sponsored terror for decades, this massacre also points clearly to a serious intelligence-cum-security failure. It just goes to show that security is a 24/7 responsibility and one's guard can never be down.
The Modi government's Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has, reportedly, given freedom of action to the Indian Armed Forces to exercise whatever option they deem fit to answer Pakistan's dastardly terror act. It's been nearly two weeks since the incident, and India has unleashed varied multi pronged non-kinetic actions in reprisal against Pakistan, which surely would hurt the country diplomatically, economically, and, to some extent, politically. The "holding in abeyance" of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty ( IWT), the ceasing of trade with Pakistan, the stoppage of visas to visit Pakistan, the closure of the Indian air space to Pakistani civil flights, the suspension of important Pakistani internet connections,the ban on their ships to enter Indian ports, the closure of the Attari-Wagah border posts, the reduction of High Commision staff, and many other restrictions, are among the array of non-kinetic measures enforced against Pakistan's highly condemnable behaviour. However, it also appears from reliable media sources that a major punitive reprisal from India is in the offing.