E-Paper
Pak minister threatens India amid tensions: ‘130 atomic weapons not for display’
India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures including suspension of the over six-decade-old Indus Water Treaty
Pakistan minister Hanif Abbasi has provoked India amid the ongoing border tensions in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack.
In a video now going viral, Abbasi has warned India to be prepared for war if it stops the Indus river water.
“If they (India) stop water, they should be ready for war. Ghori, Shaheen and Ghaznavi are not for display. We have kept them for India. We have not kept 130 atomic weapons for a showpiece. You don't where they are located in Pakistan,” the Pakistani railways minister was quoted as saying.
HT.com cannot independently verify this video.
Abbasi's threat comes days after Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari threatened that “blood would flow in rivers if water is stopped”, referring to New Delhi suspending the Indus Waters Treaty with Islamabad.
"The Indus is ours and will remain ours - either our water will flow through it, or their blood," the former foreign minister was quoted as saying by The News on Friday while addressing a public rally in the Sukkur area of Sindh province.
India-Pakistan border tensions
At least 26 people, mostly tourists, were shot dead by terrorists at Baisaran meadow in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. It was the deadliest terror attack in India since the 2019 Pulwama strike.
India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the over six-decade-old Indus Water Treaty and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the Pahalgam terror attack.
In retaliation, Pakistan threatened to suspend the Simla Agreement and put other bilateral accords with India on hold.
Islamabad also suspended all trade, closed its airspace for Indian airlines and said any attempt to divert the water meant for it under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an Act of War.
(With agency inputs)
