–India will try to use water as weapon against Pakistan
— India may go for surgical strike in Pakistan
— Pakistan makes full preparation to respond to India
By Irum Saleem
Pakistan and India are at the verge of war. India suspends Indus Waters Treaty with immediate effect after 26 tourists killed when gunmen opened fire on visitors in a popular destination in occupied Kashmir a day ago.
In other announcements, India also closed said the Attari border check post at Wagah ans asked Pakistanis in India to leave in 48 hours.
Ddefence personnel at the Pakistani High Commission in India had a week to leave the country and staff at the high commissions would be reduced as well.
The Indian government had vowed that a “loud and clear” response would be delivered to the attack.
“The attack, which police said injured another 17 people, took place in Pahalgam — a tourist hotspot in the scenic Muslim-majority territory that draws thousands of visitors every summer. At least 26 people were killed, all men, AFP reported, citing a hospital list of the dead that was verified by police. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000,” Dawn reported.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), India’s highest decision-making body on national security, held a meeting today under Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the incident.
“In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of the elections in the union territory and its steady progress towards economic growth and development. Recognising the seriousness of this terrorist attack, the CCS decided upon the following measures: the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.”
The Indus Water Treaty is a water-sharing agreement between Pakistan and India, facilitated by the World Bank. It allocates the waters of the Indus River system between the two countries.
India blames Pakistan for pushing fighters across the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) between the two countries to launch attacks on Indian forces. However, Islamabad has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had categorically ruled out Pakistan’s involvement in the incident in an interview earlier today.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that it was surprising that India suspended the agreement, given that it was followed even during wars between both nations.
“Now they have suspended it of their own accord. This is an anti-humanitarian action — they are weaponising water,” she said. “This looks like a knee-jerk reaction,” she added. “To date, they are unable to prove the identity of the attackers. They claim to have examined the bodies of the attackers and cannot prove anything.”
She said the incident was a “false flag operation”, although she said she “did not want to play the blame game”.
India vows ‘loud and clear’ response
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decried the “heinous act” in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers “will be brought to justice”.
“Those responsible and behind such an act will very soon hear our response, loud and clear,” Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a speech in New Delhi today.“We won’t just reach those people who carried out the attack. We will also reach out to those who planned this from behind the scenes on our land.” Singh did not identify those he believes are responsible for the killings, but said that “India’s government will take every step that may be necessary and appropriate.”
The killings came a day after Modi met in New Delhi with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife and children.
Will India afford to attack Pakistan….perhaps not? PAK DESTINY
