ISLAMABAD ( WNAM REPORT ): Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday issued a fresh warning to India against any attempt to stop the flow of water to the country in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
“I want to tell the enemy today that if you threaten to hold our water, then keep this in mind that you cannot snatch even a single drop from Pakistan,” Sharif said at an event held in connection with the International Youth Day in Islamabad.
“If you attempt such a move, Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget,” he added.
There was no immediate reaction from India on Sharif’s remarks, which came days after a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which said India must “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s “unrestricted use” under the 1960 pact.
New Delhi in April held the World Bank-brokered IWT in abeyance following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26, blaming it on Islamabad.
Pakistan rejected the claims, and said any attempt to suspend its water share will be considered as an “act of war,” noting the treaty could not be unilaterally suspended.
The two arch-rivals later engaged in four days of cross-border armed clashes in May, before US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire.
The South Asian neighbors have for long argued over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus River and its tributaries.
Pakistan says India’s planned hydropower dams will cut flows on the river, which feeds 80% of its irrigated agriculture.
