At least two police officers and three administrative officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy, said Tuesday that the decision to shut 48 of the 87 government-authorised resorts was a precautionary safety measure. They did not specify for how long these places would be out of bounds for visitors.

The decision comes a week after gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian tourists, near the resort town of Pahalgam. The massacre set off tit-for-tat diplomatic measures between India and Pakistan that included cancellation of visas and a recall of diplomats. New Delhi also suspended a crucial water sharing treaty with Islamabad and ordered its border shut with Pakistan. In response, Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines.

India has described the massacre as a “terror attack” and accused Pakistan of backing it. Pakistan has denied any connection to the attack, and it was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance. Some tourists who survived the massacre have told Indian media that the gunman singled out Hindu men and shot them from close range. The dead included a Nepalese citizen and a local Muslim pony ride operator. (Jamaica Gleaner)