CHAKOTHI, Pakistan: Residents of Chakothi, a town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir situated on the Line of Control with India, have condemned Indian threats to cut off water supply and warned against any escalation to war.

The latest diplomatic crisis between the cross-border neighbors was triggered by the killing of 26 men at a popular tourist destination in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday April 22, in the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings.

India blames Pakistan for the attack. Pakistan denies responsibility and called for a neutral probe.

After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.

Chakothi is a strategically sensitive area on the LoC, along the Line of Control (LOC), which runs 742km (460 miles), dividing Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and acts as part of the de facto border between the two countries. The military frontline, which runs through inhospitable terrain, has separated hundreds of families and even divided villages and mountains.

Chatkothi on Sunday expressed determination to defend their land against any aggression and were unfazed by India’s threats to cut off water supply.

“We’re not intimidated,” said Ahmed Abbasi, a resident of the area. “We’ve faced such challenges before and won’t back down.” 

Raja Ali, a local resident, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “We’d rather die as martyrs than become a burden in old age. We’ll keep moving forward, unafraid of death.”

Chakothi, the last major settlement before the heavily militarized Line of Control, has frequently seen cross-border shelling during periods of India-Pakistan tensions.