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After Asim Munir, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif threatens India over Indus Waters Treaty
Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif and Army chief Asim Munir issued strong warnings to India regarding the Indus Waters Treaty, threatening retaliation.
In a fresh threat to India, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the "enemy" would not be allowed to snatch “even one drop” of water belonging to his country.
India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan that included putting the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 in “abeyance” on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Pakistan has repeatedly cautioned that any attempt to block the water flow would be considered an act of war.
"I want to tell the enemy today that if you threaten to hold our water, then keep this in mind that you cannot snatch even one drop of Pakistan,” news agency PTI quoted Shehbaz Sharif as saying at a ceremony in Islamabad.
The Pakistani prime minister also warned that if India attempted such an act, “you will be again taught such a lesson that you will be left holding your ears.”
There was no immediate comment from India on Shehbaz Sharif's threat.
Bilawal Bhutto slammed by Mithun Chakraborty
Sharif's statement comes a day after former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari made similar comments, terming the Indus Waters Treaty's suspension an attack on the Indus Valley Civilisation and said Pakistan would not back down if India forced it into war.
Actor-turned-Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mithun Chakraborty on Tuesday reacted sharply to the Pakistan People’s Party chairman's comment and warned that India will respond with a series of Brahmos missiles.
His fiery retort was also accompanied by a bizarre one: a dam will be built, and 140 crore Indians will relieve themselves there before that reservoir will be opened to unleash a tsunami in the neighbouring nation.
Chakraborty, however, emphasised that he had nothing against the ordinary people of Pakistan who are peace-loving and do not want war and that his ire was directed only at the Pakistani establishment.
What Asim Munir said
Meanwhile, in an address to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, Pakistani Army chief General Asim Munir reportedly said Islamabad would destroy any dam if it cut off water flow to Pakistan.
"We will wait for India to build a dam, and when they do so, we will destroy it,” Asim Munir was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
“The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. We have no shortage of resources to undo the Indian designs to stop the river," he added.
India hits back
Hitting back, the ministry of external affairs said on Monday that Munir's fresh nuclear threat against India reinforced the well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in that country, where the military is "hand-in-glove" with terrorist groups and New Delhi will not give in to any nuclear blackmail.
Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan's “stock-in-trade”, the MEA said, adding that India will continue to take all steps necessary to safeguard its national security.
In an apparent message to the US, the ministry said it is also regrettable that these remarks were made from the soil of a “friendly third country”.
Operation Sindoor against Pakistan
India carried out Operation Sindoor on May 7, striking terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 civilian lives.
After four days of heavy cross-border drone and missile exchanges, India and Pakistan agreed on May 10 to end the hostilities.
(With inputs from agencies)
