Will take every step to ensure India doesn’t stop water: Shehbaz

LACHIN: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday thanked Turkiye and Azerbaijan for their support in the recent war with India and said Islamabad would ensure at every cost that “New Delhi does not stop water flow to Pakistan” – a reference to Prime Minister Modi’s decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance.

Addressing the second Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan Trilateral Summit, the prime minister also congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for resolving the Kurd separatism issue.

He was referring to the Kurdish rebels’ decision to disband PKK.

Shehbaz said it showed Erdogan’s diplomatic skills, which had enabled the Turkish president to earn a high place and influence not only in the region, but also beyond.

The prime minister also congratulated Azerbaijan on the Republic Day. “The way Azeri nation fought for its liberation, you earned a high position in the community of nations.”

‘WE WANT PEACE’

In this address, Shehbaz said the three countries support each other on the basic issues, as he thanked both Azerbaijan and Turkiye for their full backing amid the Indian aggression.

“We want peace in the region”, the prime minister said and added that Pakistan would adhere to this principle in the future too.

He also reiterated the stance that Pakistan was ready to resolve every issue, including terrorism, through dialogue.

USING WATER AS A WEAPON

Shehbaz reminded the summit that India was using water as weapon and threatening to stop the flow.

He termed the water flowing into Pakistan through Chenab and Jhelum rivers as a lifeline of 240 million people.

Read more: Pakistan has avenged 1971: Shehbaz Sharif

“It is impossible to stop Pakistan’s water,” Shehbaz made it clear and promised to take every step to stop India from doing so.

AZERBAIJAN INVESTMENT

President Ilham Aliyev, being the host, was first to address the summit.

He said his country would investment $2 billion in Pakistan and added that there was a great scope for expanding defence cooperation among the three countries.

Aliyev stressed that defence cooperation among Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkiye was essential to regional stability.

He said the recent Pakistan-India tensions were a cause of great of distress, adding that Azerbaijan expressed complete solidarity to Pakistan in the conflict.

The president highlighted the fact that the Kashmir dispute could only be resolved under the UN Security Council resolutions.

COMMON OBJECTIVES

Erdogan also spoke on the occasion and said he wanted to strengthen strategic partnership among the three nations.

He blasted Israel for slaughtering innocent children in Gaza and vowed to stand up against those sabotaging peace in the region.

The Turkish president called for working together to achieve the common objectives and cited multiple sectors – including food security, transportation, defence, trade and investment – in this regard.