India, April 24 -- With India announcing a slew of punitive measures against Pakistan, including suspending the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 and further downgrading of diplomatic ties, over "cross-border linkages" to the Pahalgam terror attack, the focus shifted on Thursday to Islamabad's response to the steps.

A meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by the top military leadership will give shape to Pakistan's response to India's measures, which took fraught bilateral relations to another fresh low.

Ahead of the meeting, Pakistan's deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar said the National Security Committee will frame a "comprehensive reply". Dar, a close aide of the prime minister...