Amritsar (Punjab) [India], April 24 (ANI): After the government decided to close the integrated checkpost Attari with immediate effect, a businessman from Attari said that the closure of the border will definitely affect the business, but the Pahalgam Terrorist Attack, which happened, was also “wrong.
A businessman from Attari said, “The closure of the Attari border will definitely affect the business here… but the incident that has happened is also very wrong.”
Another business said that the attack in Pulwama on innocent people was wrong.
“The attack on the tourist was wrong. We stand with the nation. Jis hisab se Modi ji desh chala rahe hain, chalane do. We stand with the decisions of PM Modi,” he said.
Meanwhile, the security forces have heightened alertness on the Jammu-Rajouri-Pooch National Highway-144.
Rajouri Traffic Police officer, Ahmed Din, said, “We are checking local cars by checking their licenses. We are not allowing a loaded truck as it may create a jam. The traffic police are present, the District Police are present, and the Army is also supporting us. 24/7 nakas are there.”
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Wednesday that, in recognition of the seriousness of the terrorist attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) took the following measures, which included five key decisions.
“The Defence/Military, Naval and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi are declared Persona Non Grata. They have a week to leave India. India will be withdrawing its own Defence/Navy/Air Advisors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. These posts in the respective High Commissions are deemed annulled. Five support staff of the Service Advisors will also be withdrawn from both High Commissions,” Misri said.
He also mentioned that the Integrated Check Post at Attari will be closed with immediate effect.
Other measures decided upon by the CCS include the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty “with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.
Misri also said that Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas. “Any SVES visas issued in the past to Pakistani nationals are deemed cancelled. Any Pakistani national currently in India under an SVES visa has 48 hours to leave India.”
The Foreign Secretary said that the overall strength of the High Commissions will be brought down to 30 from the present 55 through further reductions, to be effected by May 1, 2025.
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, the security forces had launched operations to eliminate terrorists across the Kashmir valley.
As many as 26 people were killed in the dastardly attack by terrorists on tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
The attack, carried out by terrorists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, is one of the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. The attack was one of the biggest terror attacks in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. (ANI)