Islamabad: In a sharp escalation of rhetoric, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday issued a stern warning to India over the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad, Sharif declared that Pakistan would not allow what he called the “enemy” to seize “even a single drop” of water that belongs to his country.
His remarks come in the wake of India’s decision on April 23 to place the 1960 treaty “in abeyance,” a move announced just a day after the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead. Pakistan has repeatedly said any attempt to alter the water flow would be treated as an act of war.
“If you threaten to hold our water, remember this: you will not be able to take even one drop from Pakistan,” Sharif said, warning that any such action would be met with a “lesson” India would not forget.
The comments follow a similar warning from former Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who likened the suspension of the IWT to an attack on the Indus Valley Civilisation and hinted at the possibility of armed conflict.
Sharif’s remarks were echoed earlier by Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, who, during a speech to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, reportedly threatened to destroy any dam India might build to block the Indus River. “The Indus River is not India’s private property,” Munir was quoted as saying, vowing to counter any “designs” to stop its flow.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted strongly to Munir’s statement, calling it an example of Pakistan’s “nuclear blackmail” and expressing concern over the military’s control in a country “hand-in-glove” with terrorist groups. The ministry said New Delhi would take every measure necessary to safeguard national security and criticised the fact that such threats were issued from the soil of a friendly third country.
Adding to the charged atmosphere, actor-turned-BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty launched his own verbal broadside at Bilawal Bhutto’s remarks, warning of a potential BrahMos missile response and making an unorthodox comment about building a dam for a symbolic act of defiance. He clarified, however, that his anger was aimed at Pakistan’s leadership, not its people.
The water dispute has added another layer of tension to already strained India-Pakistan relations, which saw renewed hostilities earlier this year. On May 7, India carried out “Operation Sindoor” against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the April 22 attack. The flare-up involved several days of drone and missile exchanges before both sides agreed on May 10 to halt the fighting.
With both political and military leaders trading threats, the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty—once considered a rare example of cooperation between the two rivals—is now at the centre of a potentially dangerous standoff.
