Pakistan deplores PM Modi’s water threat statement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday rejected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement wherein he reiterated not to allow river waters from his country to flow into Pakistan.
Dr. Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson for the foreign office, said during a weekly press briefing that PM Modi’s statement and his earlier decision to impose a crushing curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir reflected that India had “no regard for human rights or international obligations.”
“Such statements should be an eye opener for the world. It must realize that the extremist government of Mr. Modi under the false illusion of grandeur is a clear threat to South Asia as well as word peace,” Dr. Faisal said in response to a question by Arab News.
He added that Pakistan had exclusive rights over the waters of three western rivers under the Indus Water Treaty. “Any attempt by India to divert the flow of these rivers would be considered an act of aggression and Pakistan has the right to respond.”
Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday, while addressing a rally at Dadri in southern Haryana state, said that he “will stop this water from flowing into Pakistan and bring it to your homes.”
The Indus Water Treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, by India’s then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s president Mohammed Ayub Khan.
India is constructing 330-megawatt Kishenganga and 850-megawatt Ratle hydroelectric power plants on Jhelum and Chenab rivers, respectively. Under the treaty, Pakistan has unrestricted access to these two rivers.