‘Floodwater brought dead bodies from India’: Pakistan minister’s outlandish claim amid flood crisis

Flood-affected people evacuate on a boat amid rising water levels after heavy rainfall in the Haqu Wala village of Pakistan's Kasur district on August 24, 2025. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP)

Pakistan’s leaders never miss a chance to make bizarre claims, and this time it is Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif who has left people stunned. While visiting flood-hit areas in Sialkot, Asif told reporters that India was to blame for the floods in Pakistan. He went further, saying that the floodwater carried dead bodies from across the border.

As per Pakistani media outlet Dialogue Pakistan, Asif claimed, “floodwater is carrying dead bodies from India.” He also said debris and livestock had entered Pakistan along with the floodwaters. According to him, the water flowing in from India created hurdles for municipal teams that were trying to drain the flooded areas.

Asif’s foul crying comes even as New Delhi issued urgent flood warnings to Pakistan earlier this week that helped the latter to carry out mass evacuations, preventing what could have been a catastrophic loss of life in Punjab province.

Despite the suspension of routine water data exchanges under the Indus Waters Treaty following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, New Delhi chose to share real-time alerts on “humanitarian grounds” as relentless monsoon rains forced it to release excess water from key reservoirs.

These messages, officials stressed, were sent to help Pakistan prepare for the overflow, even though India had suspended formal hydrological cooperation under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty after Pakistani terrorists killed 26 people in Pahalgam earlier this year.

According to a Reuters report, by Wednesday, Pakistani authorities had moved more than 150,000 people out of flood-prone areas, including nearly 35,000 who voluntarily left their homes after the warnings. Evacuations were carried out in hundreds of villages located along the Ravi, Sutlej, and Chenab rivers, with the help of army troops.

Khawaja Asif’s comments are now being ridiculed inside Pakistan itself. Many Pakistanis accused the minister of trying to shift blame onto India instead of admitting to the government’s own failures. People said the minister was more interested in inventing excuses than in providing real relief to those affected.

Pakistan’s flood misery

While its ministers blame India, Pakistan’s Punjab province is facing its worst floods in decades. The government has been forced to launch one of its largest evacuation drives, with water levels in the Chenab River expected to rise further. According to Dawn, the floods have already affected more than 1.46 million people.

At least 17 people have died as extreme flooding in the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers submerged hundreds of villages, leaving farmlands under water and destroying vital crops.

Floods in the Chenab alone drowned 991 villages, displacing more than a million people. District-level damage included 395 villages in Sialkot, 127 in Jhang, 124 in Multan, 48 in Chiniot, 66 in Gujrat, 51 in Khanewal, 45 in Hafizabad, 41 in Sargodha, 35 in Mandi Bahauddin and 19 in Wazirabad. Over 73,000 animals had to be moved to safety, with 72 veterinary camps set up.

The Sutlej floods swallowed another 361 villages, including 72 in Kasur, 86 in Okara, 24 in Pakpattan, 27 in Multan, 23 in Vehari, 104 in Bahawalnagar and 25 in Bahawalpur. Nearly 127,000 people were relocated, while 70,000 animals were rescued.

Instead of focusing on these massive challenges, Pakistan’s leadership has once again chosen to play its favourite blame game with India. The ridiculous claim of “dead bodies floating in from India” has only exposed the lack of seriousness in Islamabad when it comes to handling disasters at home.