Blocking Pakistan’s water will spark decades of fallout: DG ISPR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has warned India of ‘generational consequences’ if New  Delhi blocks Indus River waters, DG  ISPR said, responding to a threat floated by Prime Minister Narendra  Modi after last month’s border clashes.

In an interview with Arab News, Inter‑Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Lt‑Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said any attempt to choke water flowing to Pakistan would cross a “red line”.

“Only a madman would try to cut off water for more than 240 million people,” he said.
“If that day comes, the world will witness the fallout for decades.”

India suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in April, blaming Pakistan for a deadly attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir—an allegation Islamabad denies. Early in May, India carried out cross‑border strikes deep inside Pakistan, to which Islamabad replied by hitting 26 Indian military sites. A US‑brokered ceasefire took hold on 10 May, but tensions remain high.

DG ISPR said the army will keep the truce “in letter and spirit” yet remains ready to answer any violation “proportionately and precisely”. He claimed India lost six aircraft—Rafales, a Mirage 2000, and an S‑400 air‑defence system—during the four‑day exchange. Pakistan, he added, could have shot down more jets “but showed restraint”.

The ISPR DG insisted lasting peace hinges on resolving Kashmir. “Until India sits down and talks, conflict potential will stay,” he said.

In a separate interview with RT Arabic, Chaudhry called Pakistan “a serious nation whose first priority is peace”. He revealed India itself requested the May 10 ceasefire after Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes under Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.

He accused New Delhi of rejecting Islamabad’s offer for a neutral probe into the Kashmir tourist attack and instead “firing missiles at our mosques, martyring children, women and elders”. Pakistan, he stressed, had precisely targeted only Indian military objectives.

Chaudhry also repeated Islamabad’s long‑standing charge that India funds militant outfits such as Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan to destabilise the country.

“The armed forces will defend Pakistan’s sovereignty at all costs,” he said.

‘INDIA IS NOT ISRAEL, AND PAKISTAN IS NOT PALESTINE’

DG ISPR also spoke to the Turkish news agency, Anadolu Agency, saying that Pakistan is the most terrorism-affected country in the world, DG ISPR said, adding that over 3,700 terrorist incidents have occurred in Pakistan since 2024. “India is sponsoring and encouraging terrorism in Pakistan,” he added.

Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif also said that whatever is happening in Kashmir or India is being caused by Indian oppression. “Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute that India is not trying to resolve. India is trying to make the Kashmir issue an internal issue through oppression,” he said.

DG ISPR said that Pakistan is a peace-loving nation, but if India provokes or attacks us, the response will be severe. “The fact is that India is not America and Pakistan is not Afghanistan. India is not Israel and Pakistan is not Palestine. Pakistan will not bow to Indian domination. The sooner India understands this, the better it will be for regional and global peace,” he said.

The armed forces spokesperson said that India has failed to provide any evidence by blaming Pakistan for the Pahalgam incident. “The New Delhi government is using these incidents as an excuse for terrorism. Banned outfit BLA was involved in the Jaffar Express attack, and BLA had also requested military assistance from India. Some politicians and retired generals in New Delhi have also made statements in support of the BLA,” he said while speaking to Anadolu Agency.

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