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From Bikaner, PM Narendra Modi's ‘not a single drop’ message to Pakistan on Indus Waters Treaty
PM Narendra Modi, while speaking at an event in Bikaner, warned that “playing with the blood of Indians will cost Pakistan dearly".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reaffirmed that Pakistan will not get water from India's rivers, reiterating the continued suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
Speaking at a public rally in Deshnoke in Rajasthan's Bikaner, the prime minister sent out a big message to Pakistan over terrorism. He said if Islamabad continues to "export terrorists, it will be left begging for every penny".
"Pakistan will not get a single drop of water that belongs to India. Playing with the blood of Indians will cost Pakistan dearly. This is India's resolve and no one in the world can deter us from this commitment," he stated.
Indus Waters Treaty suspension
A day after the April 22 terrorist attack in Baisaran near Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, India took major punitive actions against Pakistan, including the decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.
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Brokered by the World Bank, the 1960 treaty defines a mechanism for water sharing and information exchange between the two nuclear-armed neighbor nations for the use of the Indus River water and its five tributaries Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum, and Chenab.
Earlier this month, Pakistan called on India to reconsider its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, describing it as unilateral and a violation of the terms of the pact.
Questions over the treaty were also raised after India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire understanding on May 10 following intense cross-border fighting after Operation Sindoor.
However, external affairs minister S Jaishankar made it clear that New Delhi is willing to hold talks with Islamabad only on the issue of terror. He asserted that the Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance until cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is "irrevocably stopped".
Speaking on the sidelines of an event to inaugurate the new embassy of Honduras, Jaishankar said the only issue related to Jammu and Kashmir that India is willing to discuss with Pakistan is the parts of the region illegally occupied by the neighbouring nation.
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“I think the Prime Minister made it very clear that the only talks with Pakistan will be on terror, that Pakistan has a list of terrorists who need to be handed over, they have to shut down the terrorist infrastructure,” he said. “They know what to do. We are prepared to discuss with them what is to be done on terrorism. Those are the talks which are feasible.”
Op Sindoor is 'new form of justice'
At Bikaner, PM Modi said that with Operation Sindoor, the nation avenged the April 22 Pahalgam attack by destroying nine major terrorist hideouts in 22 minutes.
He stated that though the bullets were fired at terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, they pierced right through the hearts of all 140 crore Indians.
"Every citizen took a collective vow — ‘aatankwadiyon ko mitti mein mila denge’ — to turn terrorists to dust. And by the courage and determination of our forces, we fulfilled that promise," the PM added.
Amid loud cheers from the crowd at the Bikaner, PM Modi revealed that the Indian government's decision to give complete freedom to the armed forces resulted in this coordinated and powerful response.
“All three forces created such a chakravyuh (military trap) that Pakistan was brought to its knees," he declared.
The prime minister said that Operation Sindoor is not some game of search and revenge, rather, it is the new form of justice. He added that this is not just anger, this is the fierce form of capable India, this is the new form of India.
