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After Asim Munir's nuclear rhetoric, Bilawal Bhutto's war threat to India over Indus Waters Treaty
Bilawal Bhutto has threatened war against India over potential changes to the Indus Waters Treaty, claiming such actions attack Pakistan's culture and history.
A day after Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir's fresh nuclear threat against India, former Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has issued another round of war threats against India on Monday, if New Delhi proceeds with changes to the Indus Waters Treaty.
Speaking at an event organised by the culture department of the government of Sindh, Bilawal Bhutto claimed the diversion of the Indus River’s water away from Pakistan is as an attack on the history, culture, and civilisation of the country - particularly Sindh.
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India put in abeyance the 1960 agreement soon after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 people. Union home minister Amit Shah had earlier announced that India would never restore the historic accord.
“If Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces an attack on Indus, he attacks our history, our culture and our civilisation,” Bilawal was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.
Bilawal alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a water project on the Indus amounted to a warning that Pakistan’s water supply could be curtailed. He claimed that during his overseas visits, he had raised the issue to highlight what he called India’s aggressive water policy.
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According to him, this “water aggression” was a response to India’s setback in a military clash earlier this year in May. He added that the people of Sindh have always stepped forward to defend the Indus whenever they felt it was under threat.
“The people of Pakistan have the strength to confront Modi in the event of war,” Bilawal said, warning India that another war might result in Pakistan reclaiming all six of its rivers.
The former Pakistani foreign minister's threat comes after Field Marshal Munir reportedly said that Pakistan could use its nuclear weapons to take down India and "half the world" in case his country faced an existential threat in a future war with India.
What did Asim Munir say?
In an address to Pakistani diaspora in Florida's Tampa, the Pakistani Army chief also warned that Islamabad would destroy Indian infrastructure if they hit water flow to Pakistan.
"We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we will take half the world down with us," media reports quoted him as saying.
"We will wait for India to build a dam, and when they do so, we will destroy it," he added.
Munir is currently on a visit to the US, his second in two months.
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”.
Bilawal Bhutto's earlier threat
In June, Bilawal said his country would go to war if India denies Islamabad its fair share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty.
Bilawal's comments came two days after Pakistan’s foreign ministry criticised Shah’s “brazen disregard” for international agreements.
Bilawal, in a speech in parliament, rejected the Indian decision to suspend the agreement and threatened to get Pakistan’s share of water.
