'Blind lust to score cheap publicity...': Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti spar over Indus Waters Treaty

J&K CM Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. (File photo/PTI)

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and former CM Mehbooba Mufti sparred over Indus Waters Treaty amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.

Omar Abdullah hit back at Mufti for opposing the reinstatement of the Tulbul Navigation Project, accusing her of ignoring how the Indus Waters Treaty has historically betrayed J&K’s interests.

Actually what is unfortunate is that with your blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points & please some people sitting across the border, you refuse to acknowledge that the IWT has been one of the biggest historic betrayals of the interests of the people of J&K. I have https://t.co/j55YwE2r39 Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 16, 2025

His remark came after the PDP chief called Abdullah’s stance on resuming work on the Tulbul Navigation Project “deeply irresponsible."

"J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's call to revive the Tulbul Navigation Project amid ongoing tensions between India & Pakistan is deeply unfortunate. At a time when both countries have just stepped back from the brink of a full-fledged war - with Jammu and Kashmir bearing the brunt through the loss of innocent lives, widespread destruction and immense suffering such statements are not only irresponsible but also dangerously provocative," Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, posted on X.

She said that people in J&K deserve peace and "weaponising" water, which is essential and life-giving, was "inhumane" and internationalises a bilateral issue.

"Our people deserve peace as much as anyone else in the country. Weaponising something as essential and life-giving as water is not only inhumane but also risks internationalising what should remain a bilateral matter," Mehbooba added.

Mufti had reacted after CM Omar Abdullah advocated for the revival of the Tulbul Navigation project, given that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has been suspended following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Hitting back at Mufti, Omar Abdullah said, “Actually what is unfortunate is that with your blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points and please some people sitting across the border, you refuse to acknowledge that the IWT has been one of the biggest historic betrayals of the interests of the people of J&K."

He reaffirmed his stance on the Indus Treaty, saying that he would continue to oppose it.

“I have always opposed this treaty & I will continue to do so. Opposing a blatantly unfair treaty is in no way, shape, size or form “warmongering", it’s about correcting a historic injustice that denied the people of J&K the right to use our water for ourselves," he said.

Later, he posted a screenshot of an old article from The Indian Express which quoted Mufti as saying that Jammu and Kashmir has suffered due to Indus Water Treaty. "Just leaving this out there because 'consistency' is in such short supply," Omar said in the caption.

Earlier on Thursday, Omar Abdullah expressed his views on the potential resumption of the Tulbul Navigation Barrage project on Wullar Lake in light of the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.

Posting on X, he wrote, “The Wular lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty. Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended’ I wonder if we will be able to resume the project."

In the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, the Centre suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which had previously regulated water-sharing between India and Pakistan.