It's water bomb, says Pakistan senator rattled by Indus treaty suspension
That India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after the Pahalgam terror attack has rattled Pakistani leaders was evident as Pakistani Senator Syed Ali Zafar referred to it as a "water bomb". The lawmaker from former PM Imran Khan's party claimed that India's IWT move would hit one in 10 Pakistanis.During a Senate session on Friday, Zafar, a senior leader from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), cautioned that it could lead to widespread hunger and result in mass fatalities if the crisis remained unaddressed.advertisement"We would die of hunger if we don't resolve the water crisis now. The Indus Basin is our lifeline as three-fourths of our water comes from outside the country, nine out of 10 people depend on the Indus water basin for their living, as much as 90 per cent of our crops rely on this water and all our power projects and dams are built on it," Zafar said.
"This is like a water bomb hanging over us, and we must defuse it," he said.Nearly 93% of the water from the Indus River System is used for irrigation and power generation by Pakistan. Nearly 80% of its irrigated land depends on its waters. Its economy is largely agrarian.The suspension of the IWT was among the diplomatic measures taken by India after the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 in which Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists killed 26 people.advertisementKnowing that Pakistan would play the victim card, India is sending out seven teams to different corners of the world for post-Op Sindoor diplomacy and convey its stance on the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.After the Pahalgam attacks, Misri said India could not adhere to the existing terms of the IWT, and that Pakistan had ignored repeated calls to renegotiate the terms of the treaty.The Indian teams will justify India's stance on the IWT without letting Pakistan play the victim card as a lower riparian state.Signed in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty outlines how six rivers — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — are divided and managed between India and Pakistan.Pakistan's government has been pressing India to reconsider its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, with high-ranking officials, including Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, making stern remarks.Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his message delivered after the Pakistan-sponsored Uri attack in 2016, "blood and water can't flow together at the same time". India held the IWT in "abeyance" until Pakistan "abjured cross-border terrorism".Experts say, while India now has legal and diplomatic room to build storage and diversion infrastructure on the western rivers, its ability to significantly alter water flows to Pakistan in the short term remains limited due to existing infrastructural constraints and the time required to develop large-scale projects.advertisementThe suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which Pakistan took for granted and exported terror to India, has rattled the country and its leadership. That is evident in Friday's "water bomb" statement by Senator Zafar.
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'For years, the people of Sindh have faced political repression through enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Since its founding in 2011, Pakistan's own Human Rights Commission has documented over 8,000 such cases, many of which have never been properly investigated," Sherman said. Talk about opening a can of worms. Islamabad had more to worry about than just diplomatic messaging — it now faced the international spotlight on its own governance failures. Meanwhile, the Pakistani delegation's attempt to raise the Indus Waters Treaty got no traction. Their plea to pressurize India over hydropower projects on the western rivers was met with silence. No statements. No pressers. Not even polite acknowledgement. The U.S. wasn't buying it — a clear signal that Washington no longer has time for Pakistan's grievance theatre. Then came another embarrassment. At a press conference at the United Nations, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attempted to portray India as anti-Muslim, only to be corrected by a journalist. 'Sir, I've watched briefings from both sides. Muslim military officers were conducting the briefing for India," the journalist pointed out. Caught off guard, Bhutto simply nodded and admitted, 'As far as the operations are concerned, you're absolutely right." Humbled in seconds — a symbolic moment in a trip that offered Islamabad little more than a diplomatic scolding. But true to form, Pakistan didn't retreat or reflect. Instead, it doubled down. In yet another blunder, Bilawal Bhutto defended Hafiz Abdur Rauf — the man seen leading funeral prayers after India's Operation Sindoor airstrikes targeted terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Bhutto claimed Rauf merely shared a name with a designated terrorist. 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Most operate with the knowledge — if not direct support — of the Pakistani state and military. The only group that consistently targets Pakistan is the Tehreek-e-Taliban — a blowback of Islamabad's own strategic games. So far, Pakistan has used diplomatic platforms to either deny or deflect these truths. But it is becoming more and more difficult for the world to overlook Pakistan's brazen support of terror. Even the religion card is being declined. Trying to play the religion card, the Pakistani embassy even asked Malaysia to cancel all ten events scheduled by India's delegation. 'We are an Islamic country, you are an Islamic country," the embassy pleaded. Malaysia declined the request. All ten events went ahead as planned. Humiliation. Public embarrassment. Strategic disgrace. Operation Sindoor has left a giant crater in Pakistan's global image—a blemish no amount of denial, whitewashing or spin can conceal. It's karma in all its glory and it has been duly noted by the world. Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: June 08, 2025, 18:38 IST News opinion Pakistan's Washington Outreach Against India Backfires: Public Humiliation, Zero Traction | Finepoint
