A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is vowing that the people behind an attack on tourists will be punished. In a speech Thursday, he said, quote, "we will pursue them to the ends of the Earth." Most of the 26 killed in a scenic meadow in Indian-controlled Kashmir were Hindu men. NPR's Diaa Hadid reports from Mumbai.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: A new bride, now a widow. She clung to the coffin that transported her slain husband, a naval officer, in a video shared by Indian news media. As family pulled her away, she saluted him.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: India quickly blamed Pakistan because the attack was claimed by a group that's seen as being backed by the Pakistani army. Pakistan denies any connection, but in India, the mood was for retaliation. Hindu nationalist protesters chanted death to Pakistan outside the country's embassy in New Delhi.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Pakistan (chanting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
HADID: Analysts on talk shows demanded war. Indian media anchors demanded action.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We've taken this nonsense for far too long. There has to be a red line.
HADID: India has so far expelled some Pakistani diplomats. It has shut down the lone border crossing, and it suspended a decades-old water treaty.
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VIKRAM MISRI: Until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
HADID: That means India may now build more dams on rivers that flow into Pakistan, a country that's deeply water stressed. Many Pakistani officials, like Senator Mushahid Hussain, argued the militant attack was a pretext to deny Pakistan water.
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MUSHAHID HUSSAIN: Almost it is tantamount to aggression - water aggression.
HADID: Then Pakistan announced its own response, including a halt to all trade with India. It ordered the expulsion of some Indian diplomats, and it shut its airspace to Indian flights. And it said if India attempted to stop or divert water meant to reach Pakistan, it would be considered an act of war. But it stopped short of vowing a military response. Meanwhile, some Indian security analysts say India could be seen as treading softly. It hasn't used military force yet. This is retired Indian colonel Ajai Shukla.
AJAI SHUKLA: If we do sort of apply hard power, we will be in a position where we could escalate into a situation where war does not become impossible.
HADID: Where war does not become impossible - and a war, he says, that promises great risk to India.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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