Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that India would not be allowed to take “even one drop” of water belonging to Pakistan, escalating tensions between the two neighbours.
His remarks
came after India announced a series of punitive measures against Islamabad, including putting the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) “in abeyance”. Pakistan has repeatedly warned that any attempt to block its water supply would be considered an act of war.
“I want to tell the enemy today that if you threaten to hold our water, then keep this in mind — you cannot snatch even one drop of Pakistan,” Sharif said at a ceremony. He warned that if India tried, “you will again be taught such a lesson that you will be left holding your ears.”
A day earlier, former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called the suspension of the IWT an attack on the Indus Valley Civilisation, warning that the country would not back down if pushed into war.
In a separate address to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, Army Chief Asim Munir reportedly said Islamabad would destroy any dam if India cut off water flow. “We will wait for India to build a dam, and when they do so, we will destroy it,” Dawn quoted him as saying.
“The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. We have no shortage of resources to undo the Indian designs to stop the river.”
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, striking terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. The two sides reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of cross-border drone and missile strikes.
