New York: Pakistan, on anticipated lines, raised the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. The country’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has also reiterated that India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is an ‘act of war’.
There was no mention, however, of Islamabad’s role in promoting cross-border terrorism and the presence of terror hubs on the soil of Pakistan.
India held the IWT in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 that left 26 people, mostly tourists from across the country, dead. “Blood and water cannot flow together,” has been India’s stance since the attack that was masterminded and carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“India’s unilateral and illegal attempt to hold the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance defies the provisions of the treaty itself as well as the norms of International law. Pakistan has made it abundantly clear that we will defend the inseparable right of our people on these waters. To us, any violation of the treaty represents an act of war,” Sharif said in his address.
The Pakistani prime minister also directly addressed the people of Kashmir and said: “I wish to assure Kashmiri people that I stand with them, Pakistan stands with them, and one day soon India’s tyranny in Kashmir will come to a halt.”
Over the last decade, New Delhi has consistently accused Islamabad of exploiting the IWT as a political tool to divert attention from its role in fostering cross-border terrorism. India has described Pakistan’s arbitration attempts under the treaty as a ‘desperate move’ to escape accountability.
The IWT, signed in September 1960 with World Bank mediation, governs the sharing of six rivers that flow through India into Pakistan, between the two countries. It gives India control over the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, while Pakistan was granted rights to the three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab.
The treaty often drew criticism within India for disproportionate sharing of water. Several Indian states were left dry as water flowed into Pakistan.
