ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik has leveled serious allegations against India, accusing New Delhi of attempting to seize control over Pakistan’s designated share of water under the historic Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Issuing a fierce warning, Malik asserted that Islamabad would launch a firm and uncompromising response to any efforts aimed at depriving the nation of its allocated water resources. Addressing a high-profile press conference on Tuesday, the Minister claimed that India has been actively trying to restrict transboundary water flows into Pakistan ever since New Delhi placed the 1960 accord in abeyance following the deadly April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 25 tourists and one local resident.
“There is a tap being controlled by the prime minister of a neighbouring country. He says he will not let even a drop of water flow into Pakistan,” Musadik Malik remarked during the media briefing. He emphasized that approximately 40 to 50 percent of Pakistan’s domestic population directly depends on the agricultural sector for livelihood, arguing that any calculated move to disrupt water supplies would severely dismantle the country’s food security, employment parameters, and baseline economy. He stressed that a foreign nation is essentially attempting to weaponize control over 50 percent of Pakistan’s employment and 25 percent of its overall GDP.
Malik further underscored that Pakistan has already communicated its defensive parameters clearly to the international community. “But there is also the question of justice. We will protect ourselves… Not that we’ve just announced it, but we’ve proved that if anyone lays a hand over our share of water, we’ll cut off that hand,” Malik warned aggressively. He maintained that rivers naturally flow across sovereign borders even in the complete absence of bilateral pacts, questioning whether upper riparian states possess any ethical or legal right to choke lower riparian states. He added that since a valid treaty exists, water cannot be legally blocked, and Pakistan intends to present this case before international forums tomorrow to determine global water justice.
The controversial remarks made by Malik were extensively covered by Pakistani mainstream media outlets like Dawn, with video clips of his aggressive statement circulating rapidly across social media channels. Sharing the stage at the same press event, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar maintained that the Indus Waters Treaty remains a legally binding instrument that can neither be unilaterally suspended nor amended by New Delhi. Tarar claimed that Pakistan’s legal stance has successfully garnered international backing, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir have consistently reminded all stakeholders that “water is our lifeline as well as our red line.”
ലഘു വിവരണം
സിന്ധു നദി ജലകരാർ പ്രകാരം പാകിസ്ഥാന് ലഭിക്കേണ്ട ജലവിഹിതം തടയാൻ ഇന്ത്യ ശ്രമിച്ചാൽ ‘ആ കൈ വെട്ടിമാറ്റും’ എന്ന് പാക് കാലാവസ്ഥാ വ്യതിയാന മന്ത്രി മൊസാദിക് മാലിക് മുന്നറിയിപ്പ് നൽകി. 2025-ലെ പഹൽഗാം ഭീകരാക്രമണത്തിന് ശേഷം ഇന്ത്യ 1960-ലെ കരാർ താൽക്കാലികമായി നിർത്തിവെച്ചതിനെ തുടർന്നാണ് പാകിസ്ഥാൻ പുതിയ ആരോപണങ്ങളുമായി രംഗത്തെത്തിയത്. രാജ്യത്തെ പകുതിയോളം വരുന്ന കാർഷിക മേഖലയെയും ഭക്ഷ്യസുരക്ഷയെയും ജലലഭ്യത ബാധിക്കുമെന്നും സിന്ധു നദി ജലകരാർ ഏകപക്ഷീയമായി റദ്ദാക്കാൻ ഇന്ത്യക്ക് കഴിയില്ലെന്നും വാർത്താ സമ്മേളനത്തിൽ പങ്കെടുത്ത പാക് മന്ത്രിമാർ വ്യക്തമാക്കി.
(With inputs from TNIE)
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