A week after Islamabad declared “war” over the Indus River waters, Pakistan once again threatened India over the treaty. Speaking at a press conference, Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Musaddiq Malik warned that Islamabad would “cut off those hands” that he claimed were seeking to control the waters of the Indus River.
“There is a tap controlled by the prime minister of a neighboring country. He says he will not allow even a drop of water to flow into Pakistan,” Malik claimed, according to Dawn newspaper. Several Pakistani news agencies published clips of Malik’s statements, which also appeared online.
HT was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
Malik’s remarks come a week after Pakistan threatened to “go to war” over the decades-long Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which New Delhi has kept in abeyance since April 2025 after tensions between the two countries flared last year following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people.
“The moment we feel that our national security, and water is part of our national security, is threatened, we will go to war against India. Absolutely,” Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said while speaking to ARY News earlier this month.
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He added that military action could be considered if Pakistan found evidence that India was acting with “worrying speed” to stop water supplies.
“Desperate attempts to cover up its failures”
In response to Asif’s statements, India said that Islamabad was trying to “cover up its failures” and stood firm on the decision to keep the global trade treaty suspended.
“With regard to the comments made by the Pakistani Defense Minister, we have seen reports on the matter. Such statements are desperate attempts by Pakistan to cover up its failures and divert attention from its human rights violations. We categorically reject these fabricated allegations with the contempt they deserve,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly press conference. India has remained firm on its stand on the suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty and had earlier said that its decision would remain “unchanged”.
New Delhi said the treaty will remain suspended until Pakistan takes concrete and credible measures to dismantle its cross-border terrorist infrastructure. Although the treaty, brokered by the World Bank, allows Pakistan to use 80% of the Indus River water basin for its agricultural needs, the country’s current failure to manage these resources has left its agricultural lands at risk.
