ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Saturday strongly warned New Delhi against any unilateral action over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), rejecting what it called “irresponsible assertions” by Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and accusing India of trying to divert attention from its own destabilizing conduct in the region.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) said the historic water-sharing agreement was an international treaty entered into “in good faith and at considerable cost”, stressing that any violation would undermine regional stability and India’s credibility as a state claiming to respect international law.
“Any unilateral violation of the treaty by India would undermine regional stability and call into question its credibility as a state claiming to uphold its international legal obligations. Pakistan will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights under the treaty,” FO said.
The warning followed comments reported by Indian media in which Jaishankar accused Pakistan of being a “bad neighbor” and sought to link the IWT to allegations of terrorism.
Speaking on Friday, he was quoted by The Hindu as saying: “You can also have bad neighbors… unfortunately, we do. When you have bad neighbors… if you look at the one in the West – if a country decides that it will deliberately, persistently and unrepentantly continue terrorism, we have the right to defend our people against terrorism.”
Referring to the Indus Water Treaty, Jaishankar added: “Many years ago we agreed to a water sharing agreement – the belief was that it was a gesture of goodwill – because we were doing it for reasons of good neighborliness… but if you have decades of terrorism, there is no good neighborliness and you don’t benefit from good neighborliness.” »
“You can’t say… Please share water with me, but I will continue terrorism – it’s not reconcilable,” he added.
Dismissing the claims, FO said, “Pakistan strongly rejects the irresponsible claims made by the Indian Foreign Minister. Once again, India seeks to distract from its own troubling record as a neighbor that promotes terrorism and contributes to regional instability.
FO said that “India’s documented involvement in promoting terrorist activities in the region, particularly in Pakistan, is well known”, citing the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav as “a striking example of organized and state-sponsored terrorism directed against Pakistan”.
“Equally worrying are the recurring cases of extraterritorial assassinations, sabotage through proxies and covert support for terrorist networks. This pattern is consistent with the extremist ideology of Hindutva and its violent supporters,” FO said.
The statement also reaffirmed Pakistan’s position on Jammu and Kashmir. “India continues its illegal and violent military occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to extend its full political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle to realize their right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
