'Nobody dare stop water of Pakistan': DG ISPR warns India of 'generational consequences' over IWT

ghazi52 · 2025-05-18T20:57:06+0500

'Nobody dare stop water of Pakistan': DG ISPR warns India of 'generational consequences' over IWT

Pakistan’s response to Indian aggression was measured and limited to military targets, says DG ISPR.

News Desk
May 18, 2025

The chief military spokesperson has warned India over its threat to cut Pakistan’s share of water from the Indus River system, saying such a move would trigger consequences lasting for generations, as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals continue to surge.

If India weaponises water and blocks the flow of an Indus River tributary, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, “It is some madman who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country. I hope that time doesn’t come, but it will be such actions that the world will see and the consequences of that we will fight for years and decades to come. Nobody dare stop water of Pakistan.” He said this in an interview with Arab News.

The warning comes after New Delhi last month unilaterally suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty, following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which India blamed on Pakistan — an allegation Islamabad has firmly denied.

The escalating crisis led to cross-border fire and military strikes. On the night of May 6-7, India launched a series of strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) and extended attacks to sites on Pakistan’s mainland, claiming to target militant positions. Pakistan responded by striking 26 Indian military targets, halting its operations once a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on May 10.

Despite the ceasefire, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this week that India would stop the flow of water from the Indus River system to Pakistan — a decision Islamabad has long described as a direct threat to its survival and an act of war.

According to officials, India’s recent strikes killed at least 40 civilians, including 22 women and children. In response, Pakistan targeted Indian military sites, carefully avoiding civilian infrastructure.

“Pakistan armed forces are a professional armed forces and we adhere to the commitments that we make, and we follow in letter and spirit the instructions of the political government and the commitments that they hold,” DG ISPR said. “As far as Pakistan Army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence building measures in communication between both the sides,” he added.

Both nations have already accused each other of ceasefire violations since the truce began. Chaudhry emphasised Pakistan’s measured response: “If any violation occurs, our response is always there ... but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target the civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure.”

He further informed that India lost six aircraft and a sophisticated Russian-made S-400 air defence system during the four-day conflict. Among the downed jets were several French Rafale fighters. Earlier reports had suggested five aircraft losses, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed earlier this week that the actual number was six.

“I can confirm that the sixth aircraft is a Mirage 2000,” Lt Gen Chaudhry stated. “We only targeted the aircraft ... We could have taken out more, but we showed restraint,” he maintained. He further warned that the potential for renewed conflict remains high unless the core issue of Kashmir is addressed.

“Their policy on Kashmir is not working,” DG ISPR said, adding. “Till the time Indians don’t sit and talk about Kashmir, then (as) two countries we sit, and we find a solution to it, the conflict potential is there.”