‘If you stop our water, we will stop your breaths'; ISPR chief warns India

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has issued a stern warning to India against blocking Pakistan’s share of water.

“If you [India] stop our water, we will stop your breaths,” DG ISPR Sharif reportedly said while addressing a public gathering at a university.

Earlier, in an interview with an international media outlet, the DG ISPR stated, “Nobody should dare to stop Pakistan’s water. We hope such a time never comes, but if it does, the world will witness our actions.”

Following the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which killed 26 people, New Delhi suspended the long-standing Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after accusing Pakistan of involvement, despite failing to provide any evidence so far.

According to the treaty, the waters of the western rivers, Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus, belong to Pakistan, while the eastern rivers, Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej, are allocated to India. However, India is permitted to use the water from the western rivers for hydroelectric projects, provided it does not divert their flow.

Pakistan has declared that any act of diverting or blocking its share of water will be considered “an act of war”.

Earlier this month, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also warned India, saying that Pakistan would strike any structure built to block the water flow in violation of the IWT.

“If they attempt to construct such a structure, we will strike and destroy it,” the defence minister stated during an appearance on a private news channel.

Asif added that stopping water would constitute an act of aggression against Pakistan. “Aggression is not only carried out through artillery shells or gunfire. It has many forms and phases. [Stopping the water] is also a phase of aggression. Such actions can lead nations to die from hunger and thirst,” he asserted.

However, he also noted, “But for now, we are heading to forums available to us, starting from the Indus Waters Treaty. We will pursue this matter.”