Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday (August 14) said the country was committed to peace, but will also strongly defend its national interests, including its right to Indus water.
Addressing an event on the 79th Independence Day of Pakistan, Sharif, according to an AP report, said Pakistan would give a “direct response” if India threatens its water supply.
Indus Water Treaty suspension
India last year suspended the Indus Water Treaty following a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed, blaming Pakistan for the tragedy. The Narendra Modi government also launched Operation Sindoor that targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to an India-Pakistan conflict. India and Pakistan reached an understanding to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
Every single drop our red line: Sharif
In his address, Sharif accused India of “unilaterally and illegally suspending” the Indus Waters Treaty. “I declare in clear words that every single drop of Pakistan’s water is our red line,” AP quoted him as saying.
Also Read: Pakistan Army warns of ‘all measures necessary’ over India’s Indus Waters Treaty suspension
“You threaten to stop our water. If you attempt such a move, Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget,” state media quoted him as saying, as per a report in Outlook.
Sharif said Pakistan desires peace but would never allow that desire to be mistaken for weakness. “We do not want war; we want peace. But the desire for peace should not be taken as weakness,” AP quoted him as saying.
The Pakistan prime minister also thanked US President Donald Trump for his purported role in “securing a ceasefire” between Pakistan and India last year. India has categorically denied any third-party mediation in the resolution of the conflict despite repeated claims by Trump on that front.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement, said that there would be “no compromise” on the water issue and warned of a “direct response” if India did not “come to the right path”.
‘Treaty in present form won’t function’
Indian government sources, according to the Outlook report have said that the suspension on the treaty will not be lifted unless Pakistan permanently halts cross-border terrorism. “It would be accurate to say that the Indus Waters Treaty in its present form will not function again,” the report quoted an Indian government source as saying.
Also Read: Pakistan says India cannot misuse Indus Water Treaty allowance
The source reportedly said if at all river water is shared between the two countries in the future, it would have to be “done in a different form, not in the present form” and on the condition that Pakistan ends terrorism.
MEA’s position
Responding to similar Pakistani warnings last month, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India’s position.
“India’s position on the Indus Water Treaty is consistent. The IWT stands in abeyance in response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Pakistan must credibly and irrevocably abjure its support for cross-border terrorism,” Jaiswal had said as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
His remarks followed a warning from a Pakistani minister who said Islamabad would “cut off those hands” that sought control of Indus waters.
Treaty should remain cancelled: Omar
Responding to Pakistan’s prime minister’s threat, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Islamabad should not be selective in expressing sympathies with people on this side of the Line of Control (LoC). Claiming that the treaty has been detrimental to the people of the valley, Abdullah said that now that it has been cancelled, it should remain cancelled.
Also Read: Pakistan ‘expects’ India to resume Indus Water Treaty after war threats
“We have always been saying that our blood has been sucked – these are our rivers. We had the first right on this. Pakistanis say they are great sympathisers of Kashmiris. But when it comes to water, their sympathy disappears. Where was their sympathy when we were denied permission to use our rivers?” Abdullah told reporters.
He said that out of the six rivers, India kept three, which belonged to Punjab, and “our three rivers were handed over to Pakistan”, and Jammu and Kashmir has suffered since then.
“From then until today, we are suffering the consequences of this Indus Waters Treaty. We could neither draw drinking water from the Chenab, nor could we use the Jhelum for navigation by building a barrage on Tulbul, nor could we stop water by building a big dam on any of our rivers,” he said.
“Our blood has been sucked, and now that the Indus Waters Treaty has been cancelled, it should remain cancelled so that we can make proper use of this water,” he asserted.