Latest news with #AwaisLekhari
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Pakistan politicians keep making controversial statements against India
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads How has Pakistan's political lobby reacted? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads PM Modi vows to punish terrorists Impact of India's Indus move India-Pakistan ties have nosedived after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam . Reports indicate that two individuals from J&K received training in Pakistan to carry out the tensions in the relationship between the two nuclear nations have now reached the LOC. The Indian Army effectively responded to firing by the Pakistan military at some places along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday night, military sources said. There were no reports of any in the initial response to the terror attack, India responded with several retaliatory measures: Suspension of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty Closure of the Integrated Check Post at Attari with immediate effect Revocation of all SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) visas issued to Pakistanis; holders have been given 48 hours to leave Capping diplomatic staff strength in both missions to 30 personnel by May 1, down from on Thursday rejected India's suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and said any measures to stop the flow of water belonging to Pakistan under the pact will be seen as an "act of war". The western neighbour also shut its airspace for Indian carriers, suspended 1972 Simla Agreement and halted all trade ties with addition to this, Pakistan's ministers and politicians have also reacted to India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and its alleged involvement in the brutal attack.A Pakistan government minister said India's suspension of a river treaty was an act of "water warfare"."India's reckless suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move," Pakistan's Power Minister Awais Lekhari said in a post on X late on Wednesday Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, as per a Dawn report, said that Pakistan remains fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression including water terrorism or military provocation.'There is no evidence … expressing their anger like this is inappropriate,' he claimed.'We cannot do anything alone. These announcements seem like a knee-jerk reaction and are immature and presumptuous,' he said in response to India's suspension of the Indus Water Treaty.'The quick reaction suggests that this may be a political ploy,' Dar said. 'We will appreciate any evidence they present, but their actions are presumptive, politically motivated, and the whole thing is undesirable.'Pakistan has denied any involvement in the ghastly act. Pakistani Defence Minister and senior leader of ruling PML-N party, Khawaja Asif blamed violence in Jammu and Kashmir on 'revolution' and 'home-grown' forces within the union territory.'Pakistan has no connection with this. This is all home-grown, there are revolutions in different so-called states against India, not one, not two, but dozens, from Nagaland to Kashmir, in the south, in Chattisgarh, in Manipur. In all these places, there are revolutions against the Indian government,' Asif of the places Asif mentioned have had insurgent movements in past decades, but such activities have largely been controlled by Indian authorities in most states.'These are home-grown, the people are asking for their rights. Hindutva forces are exploiting the people, repressing minorities and exploiting Christians and Buddhists. They are being killed, this is a revolution against that, it is because of this that such activities are happening there,' Asif contended.'There is absolutely no connection to us [in this incident]. We don't support terrorism anywhere under any circumstances and innocent people should not be the target anywhere in any local conflicts,' he Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq also reacted to the incident and said, 'The immediate accusation against Pakistan after the incident shows Indian malice.""The aim of India's conspiracy is to divert attention from the atrocities in Kashmir … The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty after the false flag operation is condemnable,' he said, as per the Dawn leaders of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) said India was 'fast becoming a religiously extremist state.' They said that it's now evident that India poses a serious threat not just to regional stability but to global peace as Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan said, "India's stubbornness will prove costly for it; the entire nation is united to give a befitting reply to Indian aggression."Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday declared that the killers of Pahalgam will be pursued "to the ends of the earth" and promised to "identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers". In his first speech after the brutal attack, the prime minister vowed to punish terrorists behind the strike and said India's spirit will never be broken by spoke briefly in English and said, "Friends, today from the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. India's spirit will never be broken by terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished."In the stern message, he said, "Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done. The entire nation is firm in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us in these times."In a message to Pakistan without naming the country, Modi said he will state it categorically that the terrorists who carried out the attack and those who hatched the conspiracy, they will be punished beyond their imagination. "Punishment will definitely be served."The prime minister said the willpower of 140 crore Indians will break the back of patrons of condolences to the victims and their families, he said citizens across the country are in mourning over the brutal manner in which terrorists killed 26 innocent civilians in Kashmir on April 22. The nation stands with their families, he other leaders on the dais and the crowd observed silence to pay homage to the victims of the attack at the beginning of the prime minister's said people lost their sons, brothers and husbands and noted that the victims belong to different parts of India, be it Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha and Bihar."Our sorrow and anger are same from Kargil to Kanniyakumari," he said. Peace and security are the most necessary conditions for fast development, he Indus system of rivers comprises the main river -- the Indus -- along with its five left bank tributaries, namely, the Ravi, the Beas, the Sutlej, the Jhelum and the Chenab. The right bank tributary, the Kabul, does not flow through India. The Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej are together called Eastern rivers while the Chenab, the Jhelum and the Indus main are called as Western Rivers. Its waters are critical to both India and Kumar Saxena, who served as India's Indus Water Commissioner for over six years and has been associated with work related to the IWT, said India, as an upper riparian country, has multiple options."This could be the first step towards the abrogation of the Treaty, if the Government so decides," Saxena told PTI."Although there is no explicit provision in the Treaty for its abrogation, Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on Law of the Treaties provides sufficient room under which the treaty can be repudiated in view of the fundamental change of circumstances which has occurred with regard to those existing at the time of conclusion of the Treaty," he year, India sent a formal notice to Pakistan, seeking the "review and modification" of the treaty. Listing out the steps India could take, Saxena said in the absence of the treaty, India is under no obligation to follow the restrictions on the "reservoir flushing" of the Kishanganga reservoir and other projects on Western rivers in Jammu and Indus Water Treaty currently prohibits it. Flushing can help India desilt its reservoir but then filling the entire reservoir could take days. Under the treaty, reservoir filling after the flushing has to be done in August -- peak monsoon period -- but with the pact in abeyance, it could be done it when sowing season begins in Pakistan could be detrimental especially when a large part of Punjab in Pakistan depends on the Indus and its tributaries for irrigation. According to the treaty, there are design restrictions on building structures like dams on Indus and its the past, Pakistan has raised objections over the designs but in future it will not be obligatory to take the concerns onboard. In the past almost every project has been objected to by Pakistan. Notable are Salal, Baglihar, Uri, Chutak, Nimoo Bazgo, Kishenganga, Pakal Dul, Miyar, Lower Kalnai and the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, the government cleared eight more hydropower projects in Ladakh. The objections may no longer be applicable for the new are also operational restrictions on how reservoirs are to be filled and operated. With the treaty in abeyance, these are no longer applicable. Saxena said India can stop sharing flood data on the rivers. This could also prove detrimental to Pakistan, especially during the monsoon when rivers swell. India will now have no restriction on storage on Western rivers, particularly the Jhelum, and India can take a number of flood control measures to mitigate floods in the Valley, Saxena tours of Pakistan side to India, which are mandatory under the treaty, may now be stopped. At the time of Independence, the boundary line between the two newly created independent countries --- Pakistan and India --- was drawn right across the Indus Basin, leaving Pakistan as the lower riparian and India as the upper important irrigation works, one at Madhopur on Ravi River and the other at Ferozepur on Sutlej River, on which the irrigation canal supplies in Punjab (Pakistan) had been completely dependent, fell in the Indian territory. A dispute thus arose between two countries regarding the utilisation of irrigation water from existing held under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), culminated in the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty in to the treaty, all the waters of the Eastern Rivers - Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi with average annual flow of around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) is allocated to India for unrestricted use while the waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab with average annual flow of around 135 MAF is allocated largely to India is permitted to use the waters of the Western Rivers for domestic use, non-consumptive use, agricultural and generation of hydro-electric right to generate hydroelectricity from Western rivers is unrestricted subject to the conditions for design and operation of the Treaty. India can also create storages upto 3.6 MAF on Western rivers, the pact states.
The Star
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Factbox-What is the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan
Indian security force personnel stand guard at the site of a suspected militant attack on tourists in Baisaran near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi NEW DELHI/KARACHI (Reuters) - India said it would immediately suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan as part of measures to downgrade diplomatic ties with its neighbour after militants attacked tourists in Kashmir, killing 26 men. The treaty had survived two wars between the bitter rivals and withstood many twists and turns in diplomatic ties before New Delhi's decision on Wednesday. WHAT IS THE INDUS WATERS TREATY? The nuclear-armed neighbours disagree over use of the water from rivers that flow downstream from India into the Indus river basin in Pakistan. The use of the water is governed by the Indus Waters Treaty, which was mediated by the World Bank and signed by the neighbours in September 1960. The agreement split the Indus and its tributaries between the two countries and regulated water sharing. India was granted the use of water from three eastern rivers - Sutlej, Beas and Ravi - while Pakistan was granted most of the three western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. There is no provision in the treaty for either country to unilaterally suspend or terminate the pact, which has clear dispute resolution systems. WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS OVER WATER? The nuclear-armed neighbours have argued over and disputed several projects on the Indus and its tributaries in India for years. Pakistan is heavily dependent on water from this river system for its hydropower and irrigation needs. Pakistan says India unfairly diverts water with the upstream construction of barrages and dams, a charge India denies. Pakistan is concerned that India's dams will cut flows on the river, which feeds 80% of its irrigated agriculture. It has asked for a neutral expert and then an arbitration court to intervene in two recent hydropower projects. India has accused Pakistan of dragging out the complaints process, and says the construction of its Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects is allowed under the treaty. It has also sought modification of the pact to get around such delays. WHAT COULD THE SUSPENSION CHANGE? The suspension of the accord is not expected to have an immediate impact on the flow of water to Pakistan as India does not have enough storage capacity. But India's move could bring uncertainty for Pakistan's agricultural system. The suspension means India can stop sharing crucial information and data on release of water from barrages/dams or on flooding, Indian officials said, adding that New Delhi will also not be obliged to release minimum amounts of water during the lean season. HOW ARE PAKISTANIS REACTING TO THE DECISION? Pakistan's Power Minister Awais Lekhari called India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty "an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move". Ghasharib Shaokat, the head of product at Pakistan Agriculture Research, called the treaty the backbone of the country's agriculture sector. "It puts our agricultural future on shaky ground. If water flows become erratic, the entire system takes a hit—especially irrigation-dependent crops such as wheat, rice, and sugarcane," Shaokat said. "Yields could drop. Costs could rise. Food prices would likely spike. And small-scale farmers, who already operate on thin margins, would bear the brunt of it." Khalid Hussain Baath, chairman of a national farmers' union in Pakistan, painted the move as an act of belligerence. "This is a true war," Baath said from Lahore. "We already have a water shortage because of climate change. Low rainfall this year, and limited snow means that the water level is already 20-25% lower than last year." (Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh in New Delhi and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by YP Rajesh and Aidan Lewis)
Reuters
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
What is the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan
NEW DELHI/KARACHI, April 24 (Reuters) - India said it would immediately suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan as part of measures to downgrade diplomatic ties with its neighbour after militants attacked tourists in Kashmir, killing 26 men. The treaty had survived two wars between the bitter rivals and withstood many twists and turns in diplomatic ties before New Delhi's decision on Wednesday. WHAT IS THE INDUS WATERS TREATY? The nuclear-armed neighbours disagree over use of the water from rivers that flow downstream from India into the Indus river basin in Pakistan. The use of the water is governed by the Indus Waters Treaty, which was mediated by the World Bank and signed by the neighbours in September 1960. The agreement split the Indus and its tributaries between the two countries and regulated water sharing. India was granted the use of water from three eastern rivers - Sutlej, Beas and Ravi - while Pakistan was granted most of the three western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. There is no provision in the treaty for either country to unilaterally suspend or terminate the pact, which has clear dispute resolution systems. WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS OVER WATER? The nuclear-armed neighbours have argued over and disputed several projects on the Indus and its tributaries in India for years. Pakistan is heavily dependent on water from this river system for its hydropower and irrigation needs. Pakistan says India unfairly diverts water with the upstream construction of barrages and dams, a charge India denies. Pakistan is concerned that India's dams will cut flows on the river, which feeds 80% of its irrigated agriculture. It has asked for a neutral expert and then an arbitration court to intervene in two recent hydropower projects. India has accused Pakistan of dragging out the complaints process, and says the construction of its Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects is allowed under the treaty. It has also sought modification of the pact to get around such delays. WHAT COULD THE SUSPENSION CHANGE? The suspension of the accord is not expected to have an immediate impact on the flow of water to Pakistan as India does not have enough storage capacity. But India's move could bring uncertainty for Pakistan's agricultural system. The suspension means India can stop sharing crucial information and data on release of water from barrages/dams or on flooding, Indian officials said, adding that New Delhi will also not be obliged to release minimum amounts of water during the lean season. HOW ARE PAKISTANIS REACTING TO THE DECISION? Pakistan's Power Minister Awais Lekhari called India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty "an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move". Ghasharib Shaokat, the head of product at Pakistan Agriculture Research, called the treaty the backbone of the country's agriculture sector. "It puts our agricultural future on shaky ground. If water flows become erratic, the entire system takes a hit—especially irrigation-dependent crops such as wheat, rice, and sugarcane," Shaokat said. "Yields could drop. Costs could rise. Food prices would likely spike. And small-scale farmers, who already operate on thin margins, would bear the brunt of it." Khalid Hussain Baath, chairman of a national farmers' union in Pakistan, painted the move as an act of belligerence. "This is a true war," Baath said from Lahore. "We already have a water shortage because of climate change. Low rainfall this year, and limited snow means that the water level is already 20-25% lower than last year."
CNA
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
India PM vows to pursue Kashmir attackers to 'ends of the Earth'
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday (Apr 24) to punish all those responsible for a gruesome attack in Kashmir that killed 26 men. "I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer," he said in his first speech since Tuesday's attack in the Himalayan region. "We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth". The shooting in the tourist hotpot of Pahalgam was the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested Muslim-majority territory since 2000. Of the men killed, 26 were Indian and one was Nepali. India accused Islamabad on Wednesday of supporting "cross-border terrorism" and downgraded ties with its neighbour with a raft of diplomatic measures. This includes the suspension of a six-decade-old river-sharing treaty, which a Pakistan government minister called an act of "water warfare". "India's reckless suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move," Pakistan's Power Minister Awais Lekhari said in a post on X late on Wednesday night. The Indus water treaty, mediated by the World Bank and signed in 1960, split the Indus River and its tributaries between the neighbours and regulated the sharing of water. It has withstood two wars between the neighbours since then and severe strains in ties at other times. Pakistan has denied any role in the Pahalgam attack.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
24-04-2025
- Politics
- First Post
'It's water warfare': Pakistan feels the heat as India suspends Indus treaty after Pahalgam terror attack
Pakistan is facing the heat as India suspends the Indus Water Treaty following the killing of civilians in Pahalgam by Pakistani terrorists. A Pakistani minister has called the suspension an act of 'water warfare.' read more Security personnel rush to the spot after terrorists attacked a group of tourists at Pahalgam, in Anantnag district, Jammu & Kashmir. PTI As Pakistan faces pressure over India's suspension of the Indus Water Treaty following the killing of innocent civilians in Pahalgam by Pakistani terrorists, a minister from Islamabad has termed the move an act of 'water warfare.' The reaction comes amid worsening relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. 'India's reckless suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move,' Pakistan's Power Minister Awais Lekhari said in a post on X. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Earlier, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a press briefing after the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting on Wednesday that a top security panel had been briefed about cross-border links to the attack. He added that India would suspend the decades-old river-sharing treaty with Pakistan and shut down the only land crossing between the two countries. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also said India will withdraw its defence attachés from Pakistan and reduce its staff at the Islamabad mission from 55 to 30. According to news agency ANI, India has summoned Pakistan's top diplomat in New Delhi to inform him that all defence advisers at the Pakistani mission have been declared persona non grata and must leave the country within a week. At least five terrorists, including three from Pakistan, are believed to have opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam's Baisaran Valley on Tuesday, according to sources reported by The Indian Express. Two of the local terrorists had been trained in Pakistan in 2018, returned to the valley in 2021, and carried out the attack. Indian security forces have initiated a large-scale manhunt to apprehend the perpetrators. The terrorists targeted the victims based on their religion and killed those who were unable to recite Islamic verses, marking one of the deadliest civilian attacks in the region in recent years. The foreign ministry described it as a 'decisive response to cross-border terrorism.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
