New York [US], September 26 : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday raised the issue of abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty, accusing India of defying the provisions of the treaty.
However, the Pakistan PM did not mention Islamabad's effort to stop terrorism originating from its own borders, a key demand that India has put forward post-Pahalgam terror attack and its decision to put the treaty on abeyance over the issue of cross-border terrorism.
"India's unilateral and illegal attempt to hold the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance defies the provisions of the treaty itself as well as the norms of International law. Pakistan has made it abundantly clear that we will defend the inseparable right of our people on these waters. To us, any violation of the treaty represents an act of war," Shehbaz Sharif said during his address at the UN General Debate.
Pakistan's PM also showed his true colours by not respecting the Indian borders as he raised the issue of Kashmir.
"I wish to assure Kashmiri people that I stand with them, Pakistan stands with them, and one day soon India's tyranny in Kashmir will come to a halt," he said.
India put the treaty on abeyance as one of the counter-measures against Pakistan's cross-border terrorism efforts after 26 civilians were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 of this year.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in September 1960, brokered by the World Bank. It allocated control over the waters of the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, to India, and the three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, to Pakistan.
The agreement has remained in force despite wars and tensions between the two countries. However, it has often been criticised within India as being unfair to India's share of water rights.
India has accused Pakistan of manipulating the treaty process to deflect from its support of terrorism, labelling the arbitration a "desperate attempt" to avoid accountability. India exercised its sovereign right under international law to place the treaty in abeyance, linking its reinstatement to Pakistan's verifiable cessation of cross-border terrorism support.
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