- Bilawal Bhutto warned India over Operation Sindoor and suspension of Indus Water Treaty
- Bhutto urged Pakistanis to unite against PM Narendra Modi and Indian actions
- India had condemned Asim Munir's nuclear threats and reaffirmed commitment to national security
Pakistan continued to issue war threats to India, this time with politician Bilawal Bhutto warning New Delhi over Operation Sindoor and the suspension of the decades-old Indus Water Treaty following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The former Pakistani foreign minister claimed that India had caused "great damage" to Pakistan and urged all Pakistanis to "unite" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The actions of the Indian government, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, have caused great damage to Pakistan. It is necessary that we, as a united people, stand together against PM Modi and these aggressions," Bhutto said while speaking at a function organised by the Culture Department of the government of Sindh on Monday.
He went on to warn that if India continues to suspend the Indus Water Treaty, then Pakistan would have "no choice" but to consider war. "You people (Pakistanis) are strong enough for war to get back all six rivers. If India continues on this path, it leaves us with no choice except to consider all options, including the possibility of war, to protect our national interests," he said.
"We did not start the war. But if you think of carrying out an attack like Sindoor, then know that the people of every province of Pakistan are ready to fight you - and this is a war that you will definitely lose. We won't bow down," Bhutto warned.
Bhutto's remarks come a day after Pakistani army chief Asim Munir warned of a nuclear war and threatened to take down "half the world" if Islamabad faced an existential threat in a future war with India.
"We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us," he said.
Munir also warned of destroying any infrastructure that India builds on the Indus water channels that could impede water flow to Pakistan. "We have no dearth of missiles. We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles. The Indus River is not the Indians' family property," he reportedly said.
The Pakistani army chief also claimed that the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty could put 250 million people at risk of starvation.
India's strong response to Asim Munir
India strongly condemned Munir's threat of a nuclear war, saying that the nuclear sabre-rattling is Pakistan's "stock-in-trade". The Foreign Ministry, in a statement, also expressed regret that the remarks were made from the soil of a friendly third country.
"The international community can draw its own conclusions on the irresponsibility inherent in such remarks, which also reinforces the well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in a state where the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups," the Ministry said.
It also reaffirmed New Delhi's position of not giving in to "nuclear blackmail" and assured that it will continue to take all necessary steps to safeguard national security.
