Pakistan says clash with India ‘imminent’ after river flow cuts
Pakistan’s defense chief warned of an “imminent†clash with India as a dispute over river water and blame for a terrorist attack last month in Kashmir escalates between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan’s defense chief warned of an “imminent†clash with India as a dispute over river water and blame for a terrorist attack last month in Kashmir escalates between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
“The moment India makes a move, we will give them a befitting reply,†Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Tuesday evening in an interview with Geo television, speaking hours after he accompanied Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to a briefing by the country’s top spy agency, known as Inter-Services Intelligence, on situation with India.
“Pakistan is ready to counter any attack or a strategic strike by India,†Asif said.
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Earlier in the day, Pakistani officials said that India has almost entirely stopped the flow of water across the border through the Chenab river.Â
The move followed India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a bilateral pact more than six decades old, which it said was in retaliation for the killing of 26 people in the disputed region of Kashmir last month. Pakistan has denied any involvement.
Since Sunday morning, the water flow has been cut to almost 90% below the usual volume that passes to Pakistan, according to Muhammad Khalid Idrees Rana, spokesman for Pakistan’s Indus River System Authority. That comes as the nation had already anticipated water supplies for farm irrigation would be about 20% below demand for the next two months even before the curtailment, he said.
“It’s unprecedented,†Rana said, adding that India typically holds some water daily for electricity generation but releases it every few hours.Â
The Times of India reported Tuesday that India has been flushing and desilting reservoirs at the Baglihar and Salal hydropower projects on the Chenab, which can disrupt normal flows, and plans other maintenance measures during the treaty suspension.Â
The reservoirs will have to be refilled after the flushing is completed and that may reduce downstream flow into Pakistan, according to Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the New Delhi-based South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, which studies the social and environmental impact of water-related projects. The now-suspended treaty allows flushing only during the monsoon season, he said.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
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“On the whole, there will be no reduction in water flow,†Thakkar said. “It is temporary. Whatever comes in, flows out. Only the flow pattern may change.â€Â
Rana added that water could be released later as India doesn’t have capacity to store it permanently.
Asif also warned that Pakistan would take action if India sought to divert of block water further with new structures. “If India tries to divert or store water flowing into Pakistan or build anything on the river, we will destroy it,†he said.
The risk of a clash has also impacted airlines, with Europe’s largest carriers starting to avoid Pakistani airspace, adding another detour to global flight paths that have become increasingly caught up in military standoffs around the world.Â
