A day after India revoked all valid visas issued to Pakistani nationals, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday directed state governments to immediately locate and expel citizens of Pakistan residing in India.

During a high-level security briefing, Shah asked Chief Ministers across the country to take swift action to ensure all Pakistani nationals currently in India are deported without delay.

This directive follows the deadly terror assault in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives. In response, the Indian government earlier issued an order asking all Pakistani citizens to exit the country by April 27. An extension until April 29 has been granted only to those in India on medical grounds.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement on Thursday, confirmed the suspension of all visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect. Indian citizens have also been strongly discouraged from traveling to Pakistan at this time.

This visa suspension is part of a broader response by New Delhi to the Pahalgam massacre. The government has already taken multiple steps, including putting the Indus Waters Treaty on hold and shutting down the Attari land port connecting the two countries.

Eyewitness accounts from the Pahalgam attack described chilling scenes. Survivors say the gunmen targeted Hindu male tourists, separating them from others and forcing them to recite the Islamic call to prayer, before executing them. One of the attackers reportedly told a female survivor to “go tell Modi” what happened.

“They said their religion was under threat from Hindus,” the woman recounted in an interview with India Today TV.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a strong message, vowing to hunt down those responsible. “India will track down every terrorist and those aiding them,” he said.