How India can navigate emerging security paradigm in its neighbourhood

FOLLOWING Tuesday's tragic terror attack in Pahalgam, claimed by a shadow group of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), India has announced a number of security measures vis-a-vis Pakistan. This also includes suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which survived three wars between the two.

- SANIYA KULKARNI

Relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have consistently been fraught with tension, but efforts to maintain normalcy through diplomatic presence have remained.

Another measure undertaken by India in the aftermath of this attack has been to reduce the strength of its High Commission in Islamabad from 55 to 30. This includes naval and air advisors their Pakistani counterparts in New Delhi have been declared persona non grata and ordered to depart the country immediately.

Another time India reached this level of tension with another country was the freezing of relations with China following the Galwan Valley clash of 2020. Although 'normalcy' is still being restored via diplomatic channels, the two continue to remain rivals on account of competing interests in the region.