WNAM MONITORING: The chief military spokesperson has warned India over its threat to cut Pakistan’s share of water from the Indus River system, saying such a move would trigger consequences lasting for generations, as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals continue to surge.
If India weaponises water and blocks the flow of an Indus River tributary, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, “It is some madman who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country. I hope that time doesn’t come, but it will be such actions that the world will see and the consequences of that we will fight for years and decades to come. Nobody dare stop water of Pakistan.” He said this in an interview with Arab News.
The warning comes after New Delhi last month unilaterally suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty, following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which India blamed on Pakistan — an allegation Islamabad has firmly denied.
The escalating crisis led to cross-border fire and military strikes. On the night of May 6-7, India launched a series of strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) and extended attacks to sites on Pakistan’s mainland, claiming to target militant positions. Pakistan responded by striking 26 Indian military targets, halting its operations once a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on May 10.
Despite the ceasefire, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this week that India would stop the flow of water from the Indus River system to Pakistan — a decision Islamabad has long described as a direct threat to its survival and an act of war.
“Pakistan armed forces are a professional armed forces and we adhere to the commitments that we make, and we follow in letter and spirit the instructions of the political government and the commitments that they hold,” DG ISPR said. “As far as Pakistan Army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence building measures in communication between both the sides,” he added.
Both nations have already accused each other of ceasefire violations since the truce began. Chaudhry emphasised Pakistan’s measured response: “If any violation occurs, our response is always there … but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target the civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure.”
