India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Friday, July 3, doubled down on Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism, with spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal saying that India’s stance on the Indus Waters Treaty remains unchanged.
“India’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty is consistent. IWT stands in abeyance in response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Pakistan must credibly and irrevocably abjure its support for cross-border terrorism,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press conference in the national capital.
India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan after last year’s Pahalgam terror attack, and one of the major steps was putting in “abeyance” the 1960 vintage Indus Waters Treaty.
Under the IWT, brokered by the World Bank, Pakistan received the entire flows from the three western rivers, Chenab, Jhelum and Indus, while India had complete rights over the three eastern rivers, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi.
Notably, MEA’s reaction came after a Pakistan minister, early this week, issued a warning to India over the treaty and said Islamabad would “cut off those hands” that he claimed sought to control the Indus water.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar also said that any attempt to deprive Pakistan of its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty would amount to the “weaponisation of water”.
The MEA spokesperson further condemned Pakistan’s air strikes in Afghanistan. “We had strongly condemned the airstrikes that happened from Pakistan into Afghanistan, in which several civilian lives, including women and children, were lost. We had offered our condolences on the passing away of precious lives, and we had also, at the same time, reiterated our strong support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Afghanistan” Jaiswal said.
He added, “We have an ongoing humanitarian assistance cooperation. We have been sending them medicines… and also been offering development projects which can bring benefit to the lives of people there.”