Pakistan will attack any Indian facility constructed in order to deflect its water

 

Pakistan will attack any Indian facility constructed in order to deflect its water:

India put on hold a significant water-sharing accord with Pakistan following an attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir that New Delhi has attributed to Pakistan.
Pakistan denied being involved in the killing of 26 tourists during an attack and called India's suspension of the treaty an 'act of war'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will demolish any infrastructure constructed by India to divert its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday, as tensions between the two nations rose over an attack in the Kashmir region.

India suspended on April 23 the World Bank-facilitated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 that provides water to 80 percent of Pakistani agriculture, declaring it would remain in place until "Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism."

The announcement came a day after a militant attack killed 26 tourists in Indian-held Kashmir's Pahalgam tourist resort. India reported that two of the three militants who attacked tourists were from Pakistan. Islamabad rejected the claim and stated that any effort to prevent or divert the flow of Pakistan's water will be treated as an "act of war."

Talking to a private news channel on Friday evening, Asif stated that diverting Pakistan's water was also a "face of aggression" against the nation and whole nations could perish due to thirst and hunger because of it.

"That will be aggression against Pakistan," he stated. "So, even if they made an architectural attempt of this sort, then Pakistan will demolish that building.

Pakistan is entitled to the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive purposes such as hydropower, under the Indus Waters Treaty. India has the western rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — at its disposal for unbridled use but should not substantially modify their flow. India may utilize the western rivers only for limited ends such as generation of power and irrigation, without diverting or storing huge amounts.

Asif’s comments came hours after Pakistan’s top generals blamed the April 22 attack on New Delhi’s “governance failures” and its strategy of using such incidents for political gains, warning Pakistani security forces were ready to respond to any attack on the country’s sovereignty.

Pakistan Army's senior leadership met at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Friday to discuss the geo-strategic situation, with specific emphasis on the Pakistan-India confrontation and the regional security situation, the military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), added.

The Forum observed, with grave concern, India's consistent record of exploiting crises to attain political and military goals. They have been pursuing a familiar template - in which default on governance within is outsourced," said the ISPR.

Such events have most commonly occurred together with unilateral action by India to change the status quo, such as in 2019 when India again utilized the Pulwama event to unilaterally change the status quo of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, via repeal of Article 370," it added.

The Pulwama attack in 2019 had murdered 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers and was attributed to Pakistan prior to New Delhi abrogating the region's special constitutional status to incorporate it into the Indian union, a step constantly criticized by Islamabad.

There has been a high level of tension in South Asia since last week's attack in Kashmir, a situation not helped by retaliatory measures between the two nuclear powers, such as expelling diplomats and citizens, shutting the borders and airspace.

Pakistan and India have a longstanding acrimonious relationship. They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is divided between them, after gaining independence from the erstwhile British colonial power in 1947.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hosted envoys of Gulf allies on Friday and briefed them on Islamabad's position on the April 22 attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir, in an attempt to ease tensions.

The global community has called on both parties to show restraint and end the crisis through diplomacy.