Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Tuesday, 6, for a possible “inevitable” conflict with India, motivated by the dispute for water resources and an attack that killed seven Pakistani soldiers and was attributed by Pakistani authorities to Indians. The information is from the local press.
According to a TV channel in the country, Asif stated that a confrontation with India is near. “It was said in today’s briefing that India’s aggression is expected,” he said. He would also have threatened to retaliate if the Indian government blocks the flow of water for Pakistan.
“If Indian rulers try to block Pakistan water, they will drown in it,” Asif said, according to local media. The minister would still have stated that the country is ready to destroy any structure built by India on the Indian River.
The statements came a few hours after an attack in southwest of Pakistan. A homemade bomb hit a military vehicle in Kachhi district, killing seven soldiers. The Pakistani army held the Armado Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) responsible, which, according to Pakistan, would have connections with India that denies. Al Jazeera noted that there is no public evidence of this connection, neither the BLA nor the Indian government commented on the accusations.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and praised the sacrifice of security forces. The tension increased even more after the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced that India will retain waters previously shared with Pakistan. “Before, India water also went out. Now, India’s water will flow for its part … and will be used by India itself,” Modi said, according to Reuters.
Pakistan had already warned that any interference in its rivers would be seen as an “act of war,” as France 24 reported. The 1960 Treaty, which guaranteed to Pakistan the use of 80% of water for agricultural purposes, was suspended by New Delhi after an Indian Caxemira attack on Pakistan militants.
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*With information from the Associated Press
