Pakistan Senator Calls Indus Waters Treaty 'Water Bomb', Issues 'Famine' Warning To Govt
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India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in a punitive measure against Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that claimed 26 lives.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that Pakistan will not get India's water, referring to the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistani Senator Syed Ali Zafar called the suspension of the treaty a 'water bomb".
The MP from former PM Imran Khan's party also urged the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government to 'defuse" the 'water bomb".
'Water scarcity is a war being imposed on us. Predictions about 21st-century wars being fought over water are proving true. If we don't solve our water issues, we may face famine. The Indus is our lifeline – it's essentially a water bomb hanging over us that we must defuse," he said.
Notably, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in a punitive measure against Islamabad in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that claimed 26 lives.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan has access to the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers, while India is entitled to use those from the eastern Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas rivers.
Zafar said that water is a fundamental human right of the lower riparian and claimed that IWT 'explicitly bars India from stopping Pakistan's water share. It cannot be unilaterally suspended – that would be a violation".
Zafar also mentioned that force can be used in self-defence under international law if the flow of water is stopped.
His remark came only a day after PM Modi said, 'Pakistan's army and economy will have to pay for every terror attack… Pakistan will not get India's water. They will have to pay for playing with India's blood. This is India's resolution and no power of the world can shake us from this resolution."
The Prime Minister's remark came during his first rally in Rajasthan's Bikaner after the Pahalgam attack.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has said that any attempt to block Pakistan's water through the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty would be treated as 'an act of war".
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First Published:
May 24, 2025, 08:12 IST
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