- Asif says India cannot unilaterally suspend Indus Water Treaty.
- Adds “false flag operation” by India could not be ruled out.
- “Pakistan fully capable to respond if India takes extreme steps.”
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday that a session of the National Security Committee (NSC) has been summoned on Thursday to decide on an appropriate response to the steps taken by New Delhi following the attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam area.
The attack in IIOJK killed at least 26 people and injured 17 others when gunmen attacked a popular tourist spot. India, earlier today, took several measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and banning Pakistani nationals from entering its territory.
“A session of the National Security Committee will be held under the chair of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” said Asif in a statement, adding that decisions will be taken to give “an appropriate response to the Indian steps”.
Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, Asif said the issues raised by India would be discussed in tomorrow’s meeting.
He said that India cannot unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, as the agreement involves not just Pakistan and India, but other stakeholders as well, including the World Bank.
Asif warned that if India takes extreme steps under internal pressure, Pakistan is fully capable of responding, just as it did during the Abhinandan episode.
He further added that India has long sought to exit the treaty, but Pakistan remains prepared to respond with full force if necessary.
‘Fitting response’
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar termed India’s announcements as “inappropriate and lacking seriousness”, vowing that the neighbouring country would receive a “fitting response”.
“The National Security Committee will issue a comprehensive reply tomorrow,” the foreign minister said while speaking on the same programme.
He further said New Delhi has not provided any evidence linking Pakistan to the recent terror incident.
He added that expressing anger over terror incidents in such a manner is “unjustified”, accusing India of shifting blame for its internal issues onto Pakistan.
‘False flag operation’
Speaking to a private news channel earlier, the defence minister said that Pakistan condemns terrorism wherever it occurs in the world and India should investigate the Pahalgam incident as merely levelling allegations won’t absolve them of responsibility.
“India’s allegation against Pakistan for the Pahalgam incident is inappropriate,” said Asif while speaking to a private news channel. He added that Pakistan is the most affected country by terrorism and has been facing the menace for decades.
He questioned how Pakistan could promote terrorism, being a victim of the threat itself.
“There should be no ambiguity that we strongly condemn terrorism,” the defence czar said; however, he added that a “false flag operation” could not be ruled out.
Meanwhile, Asif also clarified that Pakistan was in a position to give a befitting response to India [in case of any misadventure].
“People remember what happened to Abhinandan,” the minister said, referring to the Indian pilot who had been arrested after Pakistan shot down an Indian MiG-21 during Operation Swift Retort in February 2019.
He also accused New Delhi of sponsoring terrorists in Balochistan and “giving asylum and medical facilities to separatists”.
Asif added that evidence proved India’s connection with the outlawed militant outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The minister further said that several Indian consulates in Afghanistan had been facilitating terrorism in Pakistan.
Attack ‘orchestrated by Indian army’: PML-N senator
Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) senior leader and head of the party’s parliamentary group in the Senate, strongly condemned the recent incident in IIOJK, calling it a false flag operation orchestrated by the Indian army.
Speaking to the media after the launching ceremony of a book held at Alhamra Hall today, Siddiqui said that India had a long-standing history of staging such incidents to malign other countries, especially during visits by foreign dignitaries.
“India has forcefully occupied the lands of Kashmiris and has been involved in their killings. Moreover, it has consistently engaged in acts of terrorism within Pakistan,” he stated, adding that Pakistani authorities have apprehended several Indian spies over the years.
India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory. In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.
Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.
India revoked Kashmir’s special status in 2019, splitting the state into two federally administered territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
— With additional input from APP
