Pakistan Warns Water Conflict with India Could Trigger War
(MENAFN) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan’s former chief diplomat and a key government ally, issued a stark warning on Monday that the escalating water-sharing conflict with India might trigger yet another war.
Addressing Pakistan’s parliament in Islamabad, Bilawal stated, "If India decides to follow through on the (water) threat, we will have to wage war again."
This statement came in response to remarks made over the weekend by India's Home Minister Amit Shah, who declared that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)—a critical agreement managing water distribution between the two nations—"will never be restored."
The tension surged after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir at Pahalgam. The IWT, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, regulates the use of rivers flowing between India and Pakistan.
Bilawal, who led a Pakistani diplomatic delegation that visited global capitals to advocate Islamabad’s position after the recent military confrontation, emphasized that India faces two choices: either adhere to equitable water sharing or “we will deliver water to us from all six (Indus River system) rivers.”
He criticized India’s suspension of the treaty and said, “The attack on Sindhu (Indus River) and India’s claim that the IWT has ended and it’s in abeyance... firstly, this is illegal, as the IWT is not in abeyance; it is binding on Pakistan and India, but the threat itself of stopping water is illegal according to the UN charter.”
Bilawal’s comments referred directly to Amit Shah’s earlier statement: "International treaties can’t be annulled unilaterally, but we had the right to put it in abeyance, which we have done. The treaty preamble mentions that it was for the peace and progress of the two countries, but once that has been violated, there is nothing left to protect."
In conclusion, Bilawal urged the revival of stalled talks between these two nuclear-armed neighbors, highlighting the need to reduce "regional instability."
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