New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a fiery address from the Red Fort on India’s 79th Independence Day, launched a scathing attack on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan, branding it “unjust” and “one-sided,” and declaring it detrimental to the nation’s interests—particularly those of Indian farmers.
Reaffirming his long-held stance, Modi said, “India has decided that blood and water will not flow together. My fellow countrymen now understand how unjust and one-sided this agreement has been. Rivers originating in India have been irrigating the fields of our enemies, while our own farmers and land remain parched.”
The Prime Minister questioned the rationale behind the seven-decade-old pact, asking, “What kind of agreement was this that has caused such inexplicable loss to our farmers for the past seventy years? India alone has the right to its rightful share of water.” He stressed that New Delhi would no longer tolerate the losses caused by the treaty, asserting that it served neither the farmers nor the nation’s broader interests.
Modi also hailed the success of Operation Sindoor and highlighted that the suspension of the IWT was among several punitive measures taken against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. These measures included reducing Islamabad’s diplomatic presence in New Delhi and expelling its military attaches.
The remarks came amid escalating rhetoric from Pakistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, addressing an event in Islamabad, warned India against withholding river waters, vowing that not “a single drop” would be taken away and threatening severe retaliation. Former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari labelled the suspension of the treaty an “attack on the Indus Valley Civilisation,” while Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir was quoted as threatening to destroy any dam India might build to restrict the flow.
With bilateral ties already strained, Modi’s speech signalled a hardening of India’s stance on both cross-border terrorism and long-standing water-sharing arrangements, leaving little doubt that New Delhi intends to assert full control over its river resources.
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