Following India’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari delivered a sharp warning, claiming that if the flow of water is blocked, blood would fill the rivers instead.
“The Indus is ours and will remain ours — either our water will flow, or their blood,” Bhutto-Zardari declared at a public rally in Sukkur, Sindh, as reported by Pakistan’s GeoTV.
His comments came just days after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, a decision made in the aftermath of a terror attack in Pahalgam that killed at least 26 people. The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy linked to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, based in Pakistan.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced on Wednesday that the 1960 treaty would remain in “abeyance” until Pakistan permanently halts its support for cross-border terrorism.
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The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, divides the rivers between the two countries — with Pakistan receiving control over the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) and India over the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej), while allowing certain uses across borders.
In retaliation to India’s suspension of the treaty, Pakistan has threatened to withdraw from the Simla Agreement and suspend other bilateral agreements with India. Islamabad also halted all trade activities, closed its airspace to Indian airlines, and warned that any attempt by India to divert its allocated waters would be seen as an “act of war.”
The Simla Agreement, signed in 1972 by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Bilawal’s grandfather), laid the framework for peace between the two nations after the 1971 war.
During his address, Bilawal further stated that Pakistan and its people strongly condemn the recent terrorist attack in India, emphasizing that Pakistan itself continues to suffer from the scourge of terrorism.
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