Review of Pak's "Most Favoured Nation" status is part of PM Modi's moves to punish Pak after Uri attack
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting to discuss downgrading Pakistan's status as a trade partner has been postponed to next week. The PM instead chaired an urgent review of security arrangements along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan violated the ceasefire yesterday.
The review of Pakistan's "Most Favoured Nation" status, accorded in 1996, is part of PM Modi's moves to punish Pakistan after terrorists from there attacked an army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir earlier this month. 18 soldiers were killed in the army's biggest loss in the region in more than 14 years.
Shunning military action, the Prime Minister has begun a global campaign to isolate Pakistan: he said he will not travel to attend a regional SAARC summit in Pakistan in November, and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj delivered an efficient takedown of Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday night, warning "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so" while asking for countries that allow terrorism to be held culpable and penalised.
The PM's boycott of the SAARC summit (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) was quickly joined by three other members of the eight-nation bloc - Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh - who agreed that Pakistan's cross-border terror attacks make it an unsuitable host for the gathering. The summit stands virtually cancelled.
PM Modi on Monday also pressured Pakistan by making it clear that in a deviation from standard practice, India will move quickly to fully exploit its share of the water from three rivers that flow into Pakistan. Officials have said they cannot rule out India opting out of the Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960.
The treaty was brokered by the World Bank, and both India and Pakistan have approached it in the current crisis to present their arguments. Pakistan's top foreign policy official Sartaj Aziz has said abrogating the treaty would amount to "an act of war" while PM Modi has warned "blood and water cannot flow together."