Islamabad closes airspace to Indian aircraft and tells Delhi any interference in water sharing will be seen as act of war

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have moved closer to military confrontation as Islamabad closed its airspace to Indian aircraft and warned that any effort by Delhi to interfere with the supply of water under a decades-old treaty would be viewed as an act of war.

In a series of escalating tit-for-tat moves since a massacre of Indian tourists in the disputed region of Kashmir earlier this week by Islamic militants, India ordered its citizens to return from Pakistan, while Pakistan expelled a number of Indian diplomats.

Tensions rise between nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought three wars over territory as Delhi vows to respond

The brutal militant attack that killed 26 people in one of Kashmir’s most scenic spots has shattered the region’s relative calm, turning a popular tourist destination into a scene of horror – and raising fears of a fresh conflict between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.

Soon after the attack in which gunmen emerged from dense pine woods and opened fire on families picnicking and riding ponies, India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, vowed a “loud and clear response”.

The US vice-president contrasts India’s potential with west’s ‘self-loathing’ in speech in Jaipur

JD Vance has described the US-India partnership as the cornerstone of global progress, warning that the 21st century could be “a very dark time for all of humanity” if the two countries fail to cooperate.

In the keynote policy speech of his four-day visit to India, the US vice-president contrasted the country’s “incredible” potential with a “self-loathing” west.