The first batch of trapped tourists from Maharashtra reached Mumbai safely in the early hours of Thursday (April 24) following the catastrophic terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, according to PTI reports. The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are spearheading a massive effort to repatriate persons impacted by the disaster, which includes this evacuation. Around 3:30 am IST, a special flight with 65 tourists who were from Maharashtra touched down at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Following the April 22's horrific terror attack at Baisaran Meadow in Pahalgam, which killed 28 people - six of them were from Maharashtra - these people had been left stranded in Jammu and Kashmir.
“After the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the first special flight carrying 65 stranded tourists from Maharashtra arrived in Mumbai at 3:30 am on 24 April,” a Shiv Sena official told PTI, marking the start of a larger, multi-phase evacuation plan, with two more flights scheduled to bring additional groups of stranded tourists back to Mumbai later in the day. Shiv Sena representatives are calling the effort a “coordinated and compassionate mission” that aims to ensure the “safe, swift and dignified return of every citizen impacted by this national tragedy”.
Following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 28 people, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and closed the Wagah-Attari border crossing on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the two-and-a-half-hour Cabinet Committee on Security meeting in New Delhi, where Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the Cabinet strongly condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of those killed. “The government took serious note of the incident and decided on a number of diplomatic and security measures,” he said.
With immediate effect, India suspends the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which was signed with the help of the World Bank and gave Pakistan the western rivers (the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab) and India the eastern rivers (the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej). The treaty also declared the defence, military, naval, and air advisors at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi as persona non grata, and India will remove its own defence and service advisors from its High Commission in Islamabad. The government has revoked all visas granted to Pakistani nationals under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme, and Pakistani citizens in India under this scheme have 48 hours to depart.