Hours after the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff engaged in nuclear sabre-rattling from US soil, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto issued threats to India over the Indus Waters Treaty. He declared that “India will lose this war” as “every Pakistani is ready to fight” and vowed that Pakistan would “reclaim all six rivers from India”.
Bhutto’s comments came during an event organised by the Government of Sindh’s Culture Department – the “Shah Latif Award” ceremony – to mark the 282nd death anniversary of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.
‘India launched cowardly attack against Pakistan’
He accused India of carrying out an attack on Pakistan at night, claiming that while Pakistan did not initiate the conflict, it “certainly finished it”. He praised the armed forces, particularly the air force, saying their response “will go down in history”.
He added, “Every citizen of Pakistan — even the youngest children — became ambassadors of the country by presenting the truth on social media.”
Bhutto claimed that India launched another “cowardly” attack against Pakistan following a “humiliating defeat”. “This time on Pakistan’s water, on the Indus River. The announcement they made regarding the Indus Waters Treaty marks the biggest assault in this region’s history on our river, our Sindhu.”
The PPP chairman further claimed that whenever the Sindhu River has come under threat, the people of the region, as well as Pakistan, have rushed to the battlefield to rise in its defence.
“This is because our Sindhu River is the only source of water for this country, for this land, and for its people. Our thousands of years of history — the Indus Valley Civilisation — is tied to this river. And when Modi or India announces an attack on this river or on us through it, they are declaring an attack on our culture, our history, and our heritage. I believe that whether it’s the people of Pakistan or even the common people of India, they oppose this decision by their government,” he went on to say.
‘You will surely lose this war’
Bhutto recalled a promise he made to his countrymen on the banks of the Indus to “expose” Prime Minister Modi. He claimed, “We have told the world about the lies he spread about Pakistan. The decisions he has made are unprecedented. We have fought many wars, but no one could have imagined that they would announce such an attack on the Sindhu — to build dams, to dig canals, and to threaten 200 million Pakistanis by saying they will block our water.”
Bhutto also asserted that Pakistan is strong enough to “reclaim all six rivers” from India if New Delhi pushes it to the brink. He claimed that the people of Pakistan will never “bow down” in the face of a war, and every citizen will join the battlefield. “And this will be a war you will surely lose.”
‘Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s stock-in-trade’
Asim Munir’s anti-India comments came while he was addressing the Pakistani diaspora in the US. As per a report by ThePrint, he said, “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.” He also threatened to destroy India’s water projects on the Indus River.
“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, phir 10 missile sey faarigh kar dengey [we will destroy it with 10 missiles],” Munir said, as India moved to place the treaty in abeyance.
Responding to Munir’s threats, the Ministry of External Affairs said that “Nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan’s stock-in-trade”, adding that it is “regrettable” that such remarks were made from the soil of a “friendly third country”.
“India has already made it clear that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail. We will continue to take all the steps to safeguard our national security,” the statement, dated August 11, said.
India also said that the nuclear-armed nations’ military is “hand-in-glove with terrorist groups”.