India suspends visa services for Pakistani nationals after Pahalgam attack

NEW DELHI: After Tuesday’s Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, India has decided to suspend visa services for Pakistani nationals, effective immediately.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “In continuation of the decisions made by the Cabinet Committee on Security in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Government of India has decided to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect”.

“All existing valid visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27, 2025. Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till April 29, 2025”, the statement added.

#WATCH | After India announced 48-hour deadline for Pakistani nationals currently in India under the SVES visa to leave India, a Pakistani national leaves for his country via the Attari-Wagah border pic.twitter.com/pi1BeZ43H8

— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2025

Further, the MEA noted that all Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave India before the expiry of their visas, as now amended. “Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid travelling to Pakistan. Those Indian nationals currently in Pakistan are also advised to return to India at the earliest,” as per the MEA.

Terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen while leaving several others injured, in one of the deadliest attacks in the valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

Following the attack, India has taken strong countermeasures against Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism. In the CCS meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah, India decided to hold the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism and has closed the integrated Attari Check Post.

India has also declared the officials of the Pakistani High Commission as Persona Non Grata and ordered them to leave India within a week. The country further decided to cancel any visas provided under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and ordered Pakistan to leave the country within 48 hours. (ANI)