Moreover, India has asserted that the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan will remain in “abeyance” until Islamabad “credibly and irrevocably” abjures support for cross-border terrorism, as “water and blood” cannot flow together.
Following the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) by India in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani senator Syed Ali Zafar has urged the Shahbaz Sharif-led government to “defuse the water bomb”. In his address to the Senate, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senator said, “If we don’t solve the water crisis now, we may die due to hunger.” He termed the Indus Basin as Pakistan’s lifeline, adding, “Three-fourths of the water consumed by Pakistan comes from outside. Out of every ten people, nine are living based on international border basins.”
Senator Zafar also referred to statistics, saying that 90 per cent of crops in Pakistan depend on water that went to Pakistan due to IWT, as he added that all of Pakistan’s power projects and dams are built on this water. He added, “That’s why we must understand that it is like a water bomb hanging over us (Pakistan). We have to defuse it and resolve it.”
Moreover, India has asserted that the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan will remain in “abeyance” until Islamabad “credibly and irrevocably” abjures support for cross-border terrorism, as “water and blood” cannot flow together.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that any bilateral talks with Islamabad will only be on the vacating of illegally occupied territories of Kashmir by Pakistan.
Jaiswal added, “I would like to underline that any bilateral discussion on Jammu & Kashmir will only be on the vacating of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan.”
“It will remain in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. As our prime minister has said, ‘Water and blood cannot flow together,” he added.
India, on April 23, announced a raft of punitive measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. The measures were announced a day after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
