DM Monitoring
NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that any attempt by India to divert Pakistan’s share of water would be treated as an “act of war”.
“Any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of the waters will be treated as an act of war. India must make no mistake about it,” he said during a speech at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, where he called attention to the neighbouring country’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance.
In his address, the prime minister highlighted India’s abeyance of the IWT since last year, stressing that it had no legal basis.
He highlighted that the country’s claims and actions regarding the treaty had been rejected by UN experts as well as by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, leaving Pakistan “vindicated beyond any ray of doubt” in its position. “Water must never be weaponised. Rivers should nourish nations, not divide them,” he stressed, calling the Indus river system the “lifeblood” of the entire region.
PM Shehbaz also addressed last year’s brief military conflict with India, which followed a terror attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without any evidence.
“Our brave and valiant armed forces, under the courageous leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir, responded with precision and professionalism,” he said.
He once again praised US President Donald Trump’s “resolute and visionary leadership” in brokering a ceasefire between the two countries in May 2025, stressing that it saved “hundreds of millions of lives”.
“Who knows the extent of devastation that could have taken place had President Trump not stepped in at this critical moment with clarity of thought and action?” he questioned.
“We must therefore ensure that South Asia never reaches this precipice ever again,” he said. This, however, the premier added, required a fair resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
“For eight decades, the Kashmiri people have waited for the United Nations to fulfill its solemn commitment of a free and impartial plebiscite,” he pointed out, adding that they had endured “illegal occupation, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence and collective punishment” for generations. He declared that Pakistan would continue to extend its full diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris until they were granted their right to self-determination, terming Kashmir “Pakistan’s jugular vein”.
