ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat at the United Nations on Friday raised alarm over India’s decision to suspend a decades-old river water sharing mechanism between the two nations after a gun attack killed 26 people in the disputed Kashmir region on April 22.
New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the assault in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in Indian-administered Kashmir, despite Pakistani denial of involvement and calls for an independent investigation. India also expelled Pakistani diplomats, shut a major border crossing and suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in the wake of the attack.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, told a media briefing at the UN his country “categorically rejects any attempt to associate it with the 22 April terrorist incident” and had condemned it alongside other Security Council members.
He described India’s conduct as “incendiary,” saying it disregarded international law and could have “far-reaching consequences for global peace and stability.”
“Of grave and particular concern is India’s irresponsible decision to hold in abeyance the historic Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, a landmark, legally binding agreement brokered and guaranteed by the World Bank,” he said.
“Holding of IWT in abeyance is unilateral and illegal,” he continued. “There are no such provisions in the Treaty. India’s unilateral and unlawful actions are bound to undermine regional peace and stability with catastrophic implications.”
The Pakistani envoy warned that the suspension of the IWT posed “an existential threat to the people of Pakistan” and amounted to the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian states.
“If left unchecked by the international community, such actions risk setting a dangerous precedent that could undermine the legal rights for lower riparian states, potentially triggering new global conflicts over shared water resources,” he said.
Ahmad also expressed concern over escalating rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority region under New Delhi’s control, since the Pahalgam attack.
He cited reports of arbitrary detentions, home demolitions and “collective punishment” imposed on civilians by the Indian authorities.
He reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding position that the root cause of instability in South Asia was the unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and warned of the risk of wider conflict in the nuclear-armed region.
“Escalation in South Asia, home to nearly two billion people, favors none,” Ahmad said. “It is time for sanity to prevail and allow dialogue and diplomacy to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.”
Pakistan’s UN envoy says India’s suspension of water treaty ‘illegal,’ poses ‘existential threat’
https://arab.news/j8674
Pakistan’s UN envoy says India’s suspension of water treaty ‘illegal,’ poses ‘existential threat’
- Ambassador Ahmad warns India’s action could set a dangerous precedent undermining rights of lower riparian states
- He says Pakistan rejects any attempt to associate it to the April 22 attack, which it condemned alongside other nations
Pakistan warns citizens in Iran to keep travel documents ready amid intensifying protests
- Iranian universities reschedule exams, allow foreign students to leave the country for one month
- Donald Trump pledges support for Iranian protesters as ‘activists’ report more than 2,500 deaths
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat to Iran on Tuesday urged Pakistani nationals to keep their travel documents handy and advised students to plan ahead after Iranian universities rescheduled examinations to allow international students to leave, as weeks-long nationwide protests further intensified.
Iran has been gripped by protests since late December after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their businesses to protest worsening economic conditions, triggered by the Iranian rial plunging to record lows against the US dollar.
The demonstrations quickly spread beyond the capital, with unrest reported in most of the country’s 31 provinces and involving traders, students and other groups.
Authorities have responded with arrests, use of force and Internet and mobile network disruptions, which rights groups say are aimed at curbing coordination and limiting coverage of the protests.
At least 100 Pakistani citizens, including students and pilgrims, have returned home through the Pakistan-Iran border in the southwestern province of Balochistan, a Pakistani official told Arab News on Tuesday, though many are still believed to be in the neighboring state.
“I urge all Pakistani citizens in Iran to keep their travel documents, particularly immigration-related documents such as passport and ID cards, readily available with them,” Ambassador Mudassir Tipu said in a post on X. “Those who have expired documents, or their documents are not in their possession, they may kindly urgently approach us for timely and expeditious assistance.”
In a separate post, he said Iranian universities had rescheduled examinations and allowed international students to leave the country for one month, advising Pakistani students to make their plans accordingly.
On Jan. 1, Pakistan advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Iran, citing safety concerns linked to the protests. The Pakistani embassy in Tehran also set up a crisis management unit to provide round-the-clock assistance to citizens.
Iran eased some restrictions on Tuesday, allowing international phone calls via mobile networks for the first time in days, but maintained limits on Internet access and text messaging as the death toll from the protests rose to at least 2,571 people, according to the Associated Press that quoted “activists.”
In a message on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump urged Iranian protesters to continue their anti-government demonstrations, saying “help is on its way,” without providing details. Shortly afterward, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused the United States and Israel of responsibility for the deaths of Iranian civilians.
Iranian state television said officials would hold funerals on Wednesday for “martyrs and security defenders” killed during the unrest, which has intensified over the past week.
