‘Talks, terror can't go together': India snubs Pakistan's overture, rebuts Bangladesh interference claim
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday dismissed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's renewed offer for dialogue, firmly reiterating its long-held stance that "terrorism and talks cannot go together."
At the same time, India hit back at Bangladesh interim government's Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, calling his allegations of Indian interference an attempt to shift blame for internal unrest and called for early and inclusive elections in the neighbouring country.
Speaking alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran earlier this week, Sharif said: "We want to resolve all disputes, including the Kashmir issue and the water issue, through negotiations and are also ready to talk to our neighbour on trade and counter-terrorism."
India, however, dismissed the Pakistan PM's offer, with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal asserting that "terrorism and talks cannot go together."
"As far as our engagement with Pakistan is concerned, our stand has been clear. Any engagement has to be bilateral. We would like to reiterate that terrorism and talks cannot go together," Jaiswal said at the weekly briefing.
"They need to hand over to India, noted terrorists, whose records and list we submitted to them some years ago. Talks on Jammu and Kashmir will be held only on the vacating of PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) and when Pakistan hands over the territory to us," he added.
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Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Can China stop the flow of Brahmaputra river to India?': Assam CM hits back at Pakistan over Beijing's veiled threat
Assam's Chief Minister Sarma refuted Pakistan's concerns about China controlling the Brahmaputra, emphasizing its rain-fed nature within India. This rebuttal follows China's veiled warning regarding water politics and India's reassessment of the Indus Waters Treaty. Concerns persist over China's dam project on the Brahmaputra, raising fears of strategic water control and potential catastrophic floods in Assam. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Chinese advisor issues veiled warning Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads India's water diplomacy evolves Sarma warns Bangladesh: 'You have two chicken necks, both vulnerable" In a fiery and fact-loaded rebuttal posted on X on Monday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma dismantled what he called Pakistan's 'new scare narrative' over China's control of the Brahmaputra river Reacting to recent statements from a senior Pakistani aide invoking Chinese leverage over India's water, Sarma declared with conviction: 'Brahmaputra is a river that grows in India — not shrinks.'Sarma's statement came in response to remarks made by Rana Ihsaan Afzal, a special assistant to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who claimed that 'China can stop Brahmaputra's flow to India' just as India recently halted parts of the Indus waters to Chief Minister, who governs one of the most flood-prone states in the country, didn't just counter the claim — he deconstructed it with hydrological detail.'China contributes only ~30-35% of the Brahmaputra's total flow,' Sarma wrote, citing glacial melt and limited rainfall in Tibet. The rest — a commanding 65-70% — comes from torrential monsoons and major tributaries within India's own territory.'The Brahmaputra is not a river India depends on upstream — it is a rain-fed Indian river system, strengthened after entering Indian territory,' he said. To drive the point home, Sarma contrasted the river's flow at the India-China border — around 2,000 to 3,000 cubic metres per second — with its mighty surge in the Assam plains, where it swells to between 15,000 and 20,000 m³/s during also pointed out that any reduction in water flow from China 'may help India mitigate the annual floods in Assam,' a recurring crisis that uproots lakhs and destroys the tables on Pakistan, he added, 'Pakistan, which has exploited 74 years of preferential water access under the Indus Waters Treaty, now panics as India rightfully reclaims its sovereign rights.'He ended his post with a resolute reminder: 'Brahmaputra is not controlled by a single source — it is powered by our geography, our monsoon, and our civilizational resilience.'The controversy was triggered by a cryptic but pointed remark from Victor Zhikai Gao, a senior Chinese policy advisor, who said: 'Don't do onto others what you don't want done to you.'Though not naming India directly, his statement was widely seen as a veiled threat in response to India's recent move to suspend parts of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed several Indian message from Beijing coincides with heightened concerns about China's ambitious 'Great Bend Dam' project on the Yarlung Tsangpo — the upper stream of the Brahmaputra in proposed mega-dam, reportedly set to generate 60 gigawatts of power (three times the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam), would be the world's most powerful hydroelectric project. But its location — just 30 km from India's border — makes it a geopolitical in India have called it a 'water bomb.' BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh Tapir Gao warned that the dam is not just an infrastructure project, but a strategic weapon. 'It is not going to be a dam, but a 'water bomb' to be used against India and other lower riparian countries,' Gao Ranbir Singh, Chairman of the Brahmaputra Board, questioned the long-term consequences: 'The Brahmaputra Basin is the only water-surplus river basin in India. With this dam in China, are we looking at a water-deficient Brahmaputra river basin?' He emphasized the need for India to adopt a multi-pronged strategy — combining diplomatic outreach, global pressure, and regional collaboration — to counter Beijing's water episode comes at a pivotal moment in India's water diplomacy. After decades of abiding by the Indus Waters Treaty despite repeated cross-border attacks, New Delhi has begun to reassess its the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam, India decided to suspend flow data sharing and restrict some water access to Pakistan — marking a significant strategic response, even if indirect, is a signal that water is now firmly part of the larger strategic chessboard in Asia. But the China-India equation remains complex. Despite border skirmishes and deep mistrust, the two nuclear-armed powers have continued high-level a stern message to Dhaka, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday cautioned Bangladesh against provocative rhetoric over India's Siliguri Corridor — the narrow stretch linking the Northeast to the rest of the to X, Sarma said, 'Bangladesh has two of its own 'chicken necks'. Both are far more vulnerable,' referring to the 80-km corridor from Dakshin Dinajpur to South West Garo Hills that could isolate Rangpur, and the 28-km stretch connecting Chittagong port to remarks came days after Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, during a visit to China, called India's Northeast 'landlocked' and pitched Bangladesh as its 'only guardian of the ocean.'Responding sharply, Sarma said, 'If Bangladesh attacks our Chicken's Neck, we will attack both the Chicken Necks of Bangladesh,' noting that one of them lies just a stone's throw from India's Meghalaya also referenced India's recent Operation Sindoor, which decimated terror infrastructure inside Pakistan, to underscore India's military readiness.'Bangladesh has to be reborn 14 times before attacking India,' Sarma said, as reports surfaced of Chinese support to revive a World War II-era airbase in Lalmonirhat, just 100 km from the Siliguri Corridor.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Punjab spy, who shared Army movement details with ISI during Op Sindoor, arrested
Punjab Police have arrested an alleged spy with strong connections to Pakistan's spy agency ISI and a top Khalistani terrorist, Gopal Singh Chawla, the state police chief said on Tuesday. The accused has allegedly shared critical information about Army movements with agents across the border for years, including during Operation arrested accused, Gagandeep Singh, leaked sensitive classified information, including details of troop deployments and strategic locations, posing a serious threat to national security, officials investigation reveals that Gagandeep Singh had been in touch with Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla for the past five years, through whom he was introduced to the Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). He also received payments from PIOs via Indian channels," the Director General of Punjab Police, Gaurav Yadav, said. According to police, the mobile phone recovered from him revealed critical information about the intelligence he shared with his Pakistan agents, and he had over 20 ISI contacts. Thorough financial and technical investigations are underway to trace other linkages and establish the full scope of this espionage network, the DGP Police alleged that the Khalistani terrorist Gopal Chawla, who is currently in Pakistan, has been running a spying racket in India in collaboration with the ISI and was actively engaged in espionage during Operation Sindoor, India's retaliatory action after the Pahalgam terror attack. Chawla is also linked to terror networks in Pakistan and has been photographed with Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla with Hafiz Saeed. (Photo: India Today) advertisementGagandeep Singh's arrest marks the latest in a series of arrests of alleged spies following the Pahalgam attack, in which Pakistan-based terrorists killed 26 people, as security agencies have intensified their anti-espionage operations. Over a dozen people have been arrested from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in the past two weeks. Investigations suggest the existence of a Pakistan-linked spy network operating across northern those arrested are two women -- Jyoti Malhotra, a Haryana resident with 3.77 lakh subscribers on YouTube and 1.33 lakh followers on Instagram, and 31-year-old Guzala from Punjab. Another CRPF personnel has also been arrested for espionage Watch
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Pakistan's 'what if China stops Brahmaputra flow' threat gets curt Himanta Biswa Sarma response
Reacting to a Pakistani official's threat that China can also halt the flow of the River Brahmaputra into India, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday described the remark as Islamabad's new "scare tactic" and said the water body grows after entering the country. He said China contributes only 30-35 percent of the river's total flow. Sarma's response came after a senior aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Rana Ihsaan Afzal, reportedly said that, on the lines of India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, China can take similar measures by stalling the flow of the river, reported ANI. Himanta Biswa Sarma said Pakistan is "spinning another manufactured threat". "What if China stops the Brahmaputra Water to India? A Response to Pakistan's New Scare Narrative. After India decisively moved away from the outdated Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan is now spinning another manufactured threat: What if China stops the Brahmaputra's water to India? Let's dismantle this myth -- not with fear, but with facts and national clarity: Brahmaputra: A River That Grows in India -- Not Shrinks," he wrote on X. Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Brahmaputra swells after entering India because of torrential monsoon rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya. 'China contributes only 30-35% of the Brahmaputra's total flow, mostly through glacial melt and limited Tibetan rainfall. The remaining 65-70% is generated within India, thanks to: Torrential monsoon rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, and Meghalaya; major tributaries like Subansiri, Lohit, Kameng, Manas, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Kopili; and additional inflows from the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia Hills via rivers such as Krishnai, Digaru, and Kulsi,' he said. "At the Indo-China border (Tuting): Flow is ~2,000-3,000 m3/s. In Assam plains (e.g., Guwahati): Flow swells to 15,000-20,000 m3/s during monsoon," he added. He said the river is not dependent on upstream flow because it is a rain-fed Indian river system, which strengthens after entering Indian territory. "Even if China were to reduce water flow (unlikely as China has never threatened or indicated in any official forum), it may help India mitigate the annual floods in Assam, which displace lakhs and destroy livelihoods every year. Meanwhile, Pakistan, which has exploited 74 years of preferential water access under the Indus Waters Treaty, now panics as India rightfully reclaims its sovereign rights. Let's remind them: Brahmaputra is not controlled by a single source -- it is powered by our geography, our monsoon, and our civilizational resilience," he said. India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty -- which governs the flow of water from India to Pakistan -- in April in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Gujarat last week that the stoppage of water flow had made Pakistan sweat. Pakistan, meanwhile, has said that "water is the country's red line", which mustn't be crossed. 'Pakistan will never accept Indian hegemony. Water is Pakistan's red line, and we will not allow any compromise on this basic right of 240 million Pakistanis,' Pakistan army chief Asim Munir said last week.
