On 14 February, a CRPF convoy came under a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed ‘fidayeen’ Adil Ahmad Dar, alias Waqas Commando rammed an explosive-laden car into one of the buses of the convoy, killing 40 jawans.
In the coming days, as the nation mourned the loss of 40 CRPF personnel, India cracked its whip on the neighbouring nation for cross-border terrorism, giving safe-haven to JeM and its chief Masood Azhar, who claimed the responsibility of the attack hours after the strike.
New Delhi took some major steps to show Pakistan that it will do everything to bring the perpetrators of the heinous attack to justice.
Withdrawing 'Most Favoured Nation' Status
On 15 February, a day after the attack, India withdrew the 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan. Union Minister Arun Jaitley told the media that the Ministry of External Affairs "will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which are taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community of Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this act."
‘Most Favoured Nation’ status means non-discriminatory trade policy – it means Pakistan had been granted the same trade privileges as any other nation favoured by India. India had extended this status to Pakistan as a WTO member.
Customs Duty Hiked
After the MFN status was revoked, New Delhi hiked the customs duty to 200 percent on all goods imported from Pakistan. "India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect," Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said in a tweet.
Increasing duties would significantly hit Pakistan's exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.
The main items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores, and finished leather.
India's Dossier to FATF to Blacklist Pak
This week, India had submitted the dossier to Financial Action Task Force (FATF), nailing the culpability of Pakistan in the terror links in the Pulwama attack and seeking its blacklisting.
The international financing watchdog was given the dossier on Islamabad’s links with JeM and how the terror group is being aided by the Pakistani agencies.The details of the terror attacks carried out by the JeM in the past will be mentioned in the document.
But the FATF, on Friday, 22 February, decided that Pakistan will continue to remain on the 'grey list', sources said.
The reports pointed out that the Imran Khan-led country could get blacklisted in October, which would mean it would join Iran and North Korea in the blacklist.
Cross-Border Bus Services Suspended
The weekly Poonch-Rawalakot cross-LoC bus service was suspended Monday, 18 February, in view of the prevailing law and order situation in Jammu, following the recent terror attack on a CRPF convoy in south Kashmir, a senior officer said.
Billed as the biggest confidence building measure, the bus service was started on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route in Kashmir on 7 April 2005 and the Poonch-Rawalakot route in the Jammu region on 20 June 2006, to facilitate easier trade and travel between the divided families of Jammu and Kashmir and PoK.
The trade, which works on barter system, between the divided parts started in October 2008.
India Launches Diplomatic Offensive to Isolate Pak
India has mounted a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan in the international community for its support to terror groups and cross border terrorism. The United Nation Security Counil on Friday, 22 February, condemned in the "strongest terms" the "heinous and cowardly" attack on the Indian security forces.
The sources also said that the UN Security Council resolution on Pulwama attack contained specific language proposed by India through its partner countries including the naming of JeM, and calling for bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council sought to downplay the scathing statement issued by the powerful organ of the world body naming Jaish-e-Muhammad in the Pulwama terror attack, saying the mention of the Pakistan-based outfit was only in "general terms" and "does not represent a judgement".
The official sources said, Beijing’s lone opposition in the 15-member UN Security Council to any mention of terrorism resulted in a delay of nearly one week in issuance of a statement by the powerful body on the dastardly Pulwama terror attack.
Flow of India's Share of Water to Pakistan Stopped
"Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Sri @narendramodi ji, Our Govt. has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab (sic)," Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had tweeted on Thursday, 21 February.
And a day after his statement, the Water Resource Ministry issued details of various projects being worked upon to enforce it. The Ministry on Friday issued a statement giving details of the projects being implemented to stop the flow of waters that belong to India.
The Indus system comprises Indus river, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan, the ministry said in a statement.
Under the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of the three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas (eastern Rivers) averaging around 33 million acre feet (MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use.
(With inputs from PTI)
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