A day after Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir issued a fresh nuclear threat against India, former foreign minister and Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned that any move by New Delhi to alter the Indus Waters Treaty could trigger war.
Speaking at an event organised by the Sindh government’s culture department, Bhutto claimed that diverting the Indus River’s water away from Pakistan would be an attack on the country’s history, culture and civilisation—particularly that of Sindh. “If Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces an attack on Indus, he attacks our history, our culture and our civilisation,” he said, alleging that India’s recent water policy was a retaliatory measure following a military setback earlier this year.
India suspended the 1960 agreement shortly after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 people. Union home minister Amit Shah has stated the accord will not be restored. Bhutto alleged Modi’s announcement of a water project on the Indus was a warning that Pakistan’s supply could be curtailed, and vowed that “the people of Pakistan have the strength to confront Modi in the event of war,” even suggesting such a conflict could see Pakistan “reclaim all six of its rivers.”
His remarks followed Munir’s statement in Tampa, Florida, where the Pakistani army chief warned that Islamabad would destroy any dam India might build to block water flows, declaring, “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we will take half the world down with us.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded sharply, calling Munir’s threats “nuclear sabre-rattling” and accusing Pakistan’s military of being “hand-in-glove” with terrorist groups. The ministry stressed that New Delhi would not succumb to nuclear blackmail and would take all necessary measures to safeguard its national security, also noting it was “regrettable” such remarks were made from the soil of a “friendly third country.”
Bhutto’s latest threat echoes similar warnings he made in June, when he told Pakistan’s parliament the country would go to war if denied its “fair share” of water under the treaty.
