Bilawal Bhutto Says Pakistan True Custodian Of The Indus Civilizations
New Delhi: The Indus Waters Treaty has infuriated Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the country was the true custodian of the Indus civilisation and warned India that “either our water or their blood will flow through it”. “The Indus is ours and will remain ours – either our water will flow through it, or their blood,” the former foreign minister was quoted as saying by The News on Friday while addressing a public rally in the Sukkur area of his home Sindh province.
The Indus flows through the province, and the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo-Daro flourished on its banks. And Bilawal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed India is heir to a civilisation thousands of years old, “But that civilisation lies in Mohenjo-daro, in Larkana. We are its true custodians, and we will defend it.”
The treaty, signed in September 1960 after years of negotiations, governs how the waters of six rivers of the Indus basin are utilised and distributed between India and Pakistan. A suspension of the treaty will have astronomical implications for Pakistan in the future as it provides water for 80% of its agricultural land.
Bhutto said neither Pakistan, nor the international community, would tolerate his “warmongering” or bid to divert the Indus waters.”He (Modi) says they are heirs to a civilisation thousands of years old, but that civilisation lies in Mohenjo Daro, in Larkana.
In reality, the Indus Valley civilisation was spread over both modern-day Pakistan and large parts of western India. Bhutto is the second Pakistani leader after its defence minister Khawaja Asif to target PM Modi after his rousing speech at a rally in Bihar earlier this week.
In a tough message to Pakistan, PM Modi has vowed to “identify, track and punish” every terrorist and their backers and would “pursue them to the ends of the earth”. Bhutto, who has also served as Pakistan’s foreign minister, said Pakistan had already condemned the terror attack, which left 26 tourists dead, but India was blaming it to conceal the failures of its own government.