Pakistan shuts airspace to Indian airlines, suspends all trade

Pakistan also suspended all trade with India, including goods passing through Pakistan to or from third countries.

Pakistan on Thursday announced the immediate closure of its airspace to all Indian-owned and Indian-operated airlines, reported Reuters.

In this handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office on April 24, 2025, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a high level security meeting with the chiefs of the Pakistan forces and other government officials at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. (AFP)

It also suspended all trade with India, including goods passing through Pakistan to or from third countries and objected to India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, the report added.

The Pakistan government has said that any move to obstruct or redirect the flow of water allocated to Pakistan, or any violation of its rights as a lower riparian state, will be treated as “an act of war.”

Pakistan has also directed Indian military advisers at its High Commission to leave by April 30, reported PTI.

India on Wednesday announced a series of measures to downgrade its ties with Pakistan, a day after terrorists killed 26 men at a popular tourist destination in Kashmir, marking the deadliest attack on civilians in the country in nearly two decades.

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri, while addressing a media briefing, said that the cross-border connections to the attack were brought to light during a special meeting of the security cabinet, prompting the decision to act against Pakistan.

Among the steps taken, India suspended with immediate effect the Indus Waters Treaty, a crucial agreement that governs the sharing of the Indus river system between the two nations.

Misri also said that the defence advisers at the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi had been declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country.

He also announced that the Indian high commission in Islamabad would scale down its staff strength from 55 to 30.

Moreover, the main border checkpost between India and Pakistan would be closed with immediate effect, and Pakistani nationals would no longer be permitted to travel to India under special visa arrangements, Misri added.

Following the Centre’s 48-hour deadline, several Pakistani nationals began returning home on Thursday via the Attari-Wagah land route in Amritsar.