India has firmly rejected Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif’s warning that Islamabad could resort to war if its water security was endangered. The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal condemned the remarks as baseless and fabricated, stressing that they were designed to deflect attention from Pakistan’s domestic failings and human rights abuses. He asserted that such threats deserve contempt and reflect desperation rather than credible policy.

New Delhi highlighted that the unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is rooted in decades of systemic repression by Islamabad. According to Jaiswal, the protests are a direct consequence of economic exploitation, denial of fundamental rights, and administrative oppression.

Such remarks are desperate attempts by Pakistan to cover up its own failings and deflect attention away from its human rights abuses. We categorically reject these fabricated claims with the contempt that they deserve. - Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson

He accused Pakistani authorities of resorting to extreme measures such as blocking essential supplies and medicines, imposing internet shutdowns, and deploying lethal force against unarmed civilians. India expressed hope that the international community would hold Pakistan accountable for these alleged abuses.

The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, has been suspended since 2025 following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. India has made clear that the treaty’s restoration depends on Pakistan taking credible and irreversible steps to end cross-border terrorism. This suspension marks a strategic shift in India’s water policy, with projects such as the Chenab-Beas Link signalling a move away from past restraint towards maximising treaty-permitted rights.

Pakistan’s warning underscores the immense stakes of the Indus river system, which sustains nearly 80% of its agricultural land and accounts for 93% of its total water use. Islamabad views any alteration in water flows as a direct threat to national security.

The suspension of the treaty has intensified tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with both sides defending their positions amid mutual accusations.

India’s rejection of a recent Court of Arbitration award further demonstrates its hardened stance. New Delhi insists that its actions remain within treaty provisions, while Pakistan accuses India of weaponizing water. Analysts note that the dispute has become a new theatre of strategic rivalry, with implications for regional stability.

The confrontation reflects a broader geopolitical shift. India’s emphasis on securing its water resources is both a domestic imperative and a strategic signal. Pakistan’s rhetoric of war highlights its vulnerability but also its determination to resist perceived encroachment.

The Indus basin, sustaining hundreds of millions of people, has thus become a focal point of confrontation, where water security, national survival, and regional politics intersect.

Agencies