"Water, Blood Cannot Flow Together": PM On Suspending Indus Waters Treaty

Water and blood cannot flow together, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his first message to the nation after Operation Sindoor, India's counterstrike in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. The water and blood reference was a clear message to Pakistan that while India may have agreed to a ceasefire, it has no plans to lift the hold on the Indus Waters Treaty that it imposed a day after the heinous attack in which 25 tourists and a Kashmiri man were murdered in cold blood.

"Terror and talk cannot take place together. Terror and trade cannot take place together. And, water and blood also cannot flow together," Prime Minister Modi said in his message to the nation during which he warned Pakistan that India has only paused its action and its next move will depend on Pakistan's actions.

Stressing that Operation Sindoor had rewritten the rules of India's response to terror, the Prime Minister said the country would respond to terror on its terms and that any form of nuclear blackmail -- Islamabad's oft-used trick -- won't be tolerated.

A day after the Pahalgam terror attack, India took a series of diplomatic steps against Pakistan. The biggest of them was the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a 1960 water-sharing agreement between the two countries signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Mohammed Ayub Khan. The suspension of the treaty was significant because such a move was not taken even during India's wars with Pakistan.

A day after the Pahalgam terror attack, India took a series of diplomatic steps against Pakistan. The biggest of them was the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a 1960 water-sharing agreement between the two countries signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Mohammed Ayub Khan. The suspension of the treaty was significant because such a move was not taken even during India's wars with Pakistan.

The suspension of the treaty had drawn a sharp response from Islamabad, which said that it would see any move to divert water meant for it as an "act of war". "Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an Act of war," it said. Pakistan also threatened to suspend all bilateral pacts with India, including the Simla Agreement, which validates the Line of Control.

A tense couple of weeks later, India carried out airstrikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Pakistan responded by heavy shelling and firing a barrage of drones and missiles across India's north-western border, leading to civilian casualties. The projectiles were intercepted by India's air defence system. New Delhi then decided on a firm response to the escalation and targeted Pakistan's military establishments, including key airbases. Eventually, Islamabad sought a ceasefire and India agreed with a warning that its forces remain on high alert and would respond to any misadventure.

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