Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari issued a stern warning to India over the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, claiming the river belongs to Pakistan. He said that either water would flow or blood would spill.
Islamabad: Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari issued a warning to India just days after New Delhi officially suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in response to the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking from Sukkur near the Indus River, Bhutto said, "India has accused Pakistan of the Pahalgam incident, with Modi making false allegations to conceal his own weaknesses and deceive his people. He has unilaterally decided to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, under which India had acknowledged that the Indus belongs to Pakistan. Standing here in Sukkur by the Indus, I want to tell India that the Indus is ours and will remain ours. Either water will flow in this Indus, or their blood will."
Tensions between India and Pakistan have intensified following the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists. The Resistance Front (TRF), widely seen as a front for the Pakistan-based banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba, took responsibility for the assault. In response, India began the process of suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, accusing Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism.
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The Ministry of Jal Shakti formally notified Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources, invoking Article XII(3) of the treaty. India cited shifting demographics, changing clean energy requirements, and Pakistan’s alleged involvement in terrorism as reasons for the review, stating that the treaty can no longer be upheld in “good faith” under the prevailing conditions.
Meanwhile, the escalating tensions have sparked internal unrest in Pakistan. The contentious Cholistan canals project, initiated in February by the army and Punjab's provincial government, has been put on hold amid strong opposition from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and mass protests in Sindh. Following a meeting with Bilawal Bhutto, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif agreed that no new canals would be constructed without a consensus reached through the Council of Common Interests (CCI).
At a joint press conference, Sharif confirmed, “Until a decision is reached with mutual consensus in the CCI, no further canal will be constructed.”
“India’s announcement to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty is illegal and against humanity,” Bhutto had earlier said. “We will raise Pakistan's case not only on the streets but at the international level.”
India has started identifying and deporting Pakistani nationals residing in the country on short-term visas. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed state governments to accelerate the process and has convened a meeting with senior officials to discuss the broader implications of suspending the Indus Waters Treaty.
