ISLAMABAD, Aug 13 : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a fresh warning to India over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), declaring that the “enemy” would not be allowed to take “even one drop” of water belonging to his country.
“The enemy (India) can’t snatch even a single drop of water from Pakistan. You threatened to stop our water. If you attempt such a move, Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget,” Sharif said at a ceremony in Islamabad, the Dawn reported.
He stressed that water was Pakistan’s lifeline and vowed there would be “no compromise” on the country’s rights under international agreements, according to Dawn news.
Pakistan has repeatedly warned that any attempt to block its water flow would be considered an act of war.
“If you try this, you will again be taught such a lesson that you will be left holding your ears,” The Dawn reported Sharif as saying.
Sharif’s comments come after Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, sparked outrage by threatening India with “nuclear war” during a speech in the United States, warning that Islamabad would “take half the world down” if faced with an existential threat.
India reacted sharply to reported remarks made by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, during a visit to the United States, calling them an example of “nuclear sabre-rattling” and warning that such statements highlight serious concerns over Islamabad’s nuclear command and control.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was “regrettable” that the comments were made “from the soil of a friendly third country” and urged the international community to note “the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks” by a military “hand-in-glove with terrorist groups.”
The statement said such remarks underscored doubts about the integrity of Pakistan’s nuclear command and control, particularly in a state where the military is “hand-in-glove with terrorist groups.” The ministry termed it “regrettable” that the comments were made from the soil of a friendly third country.
The MEA reiterated India’s position that it will not yield to nuclear blackmail and will take “all necessary steps” to safeguard national security.
Munir, speaking at a black-tie dinner in Tampa, Florida, hosted by businessman and honorary consul Adnan Asad, reportedly declared, “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.” According to reports, this marks the first time nuclear threats have been issued from US soil against a third country.
The Pakistani army chief also threatened to destroy any Indian infrastructure on Indus River channels, warning that such projects could cut Pakistan’s water supply.
Pakistan has been criticising India after it put the 1960 treaty “in abeyance” on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people.
New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the incident, while Pakistan denied any involvement. The IWT, brokered by the World Bank, governs the sharing of waters from the Indus river system, which sustains nearly 80 per cent of Pakistan’s agriculture.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah has made it clear that the treaty will not be restored. “No, it will never be restored. We will take water that was flowing from Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” Shah said.
The accord remains dormant despite a ceasefire agreement reached in May between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after their worst fighting in decades.
(UNI)
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