Pakistani senator Syed Ali Zafar has appealed to the Shehbaz Sharif-led government to “defuse” the “water bomb” that is hanging over the country after India suspended the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in the aftermath of the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam which resulted in the death of 26 civilians.
In his speech during a Senate Session on Friday, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader warned that a large population could die of hunger if the issue is not addressed.
“If we do not solve this water crisis now, we could die of hunger. The reason for this is that the Indus Basin is our lifeline. Three-fourths of our water comes from outside the country. Nine out of 10 people depend on the Indus water basin for their living,” he said.
“According to statistics, 90 per cent of our crops depend on this water. All our power projects and dams are built on this water. That’s why we must understand that this is like a water bomb hanging over us — we have to defuse it, we have to resolve it,” Zafar added.
BJP leader Amit Malviya shared a video of Zafar’s speech on his X account, with the caption “water bomb”.
After the Pahalgam terror attack, India announced a series of measures against Pakistan including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty to send a strong message to the neighbouring country over its support for cross-border terrorism.
The Indus Water Treaty, which was signed in 1960, governs the sharing of the waters of six rivers — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — between India and Pakistan.
Even after several days, India remains firm in its decision, stating time and again that the pact will remain in "abeyance" until Islamabad "credibly and irrevocably" abjures support to cross-border terrorism as "water and blood" cannot flow together.
India carried out precision strikes on nine terror infrastructures early on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10.
The Pakistani attempts were strongly responded to by the Indian side by inflicting heavy damages to a number of key Pakistani military installations including air bases, air defence systems, command and control centres and radar sites.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on May 10 announced that India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect.
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