Karachi : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has escalated his remarks over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) dispute with India, invoking Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine and warning that any attempt to undermine the country’s water rights would be treated as a threat to its national survival. The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, was placed in abeyance by India last year following the Pahalgam terror attack. The decision drew strong objections from Pakistan, where the Indus river system is vital to the economy, supplying water to nearly 80 per cent of the country’s agricultural land.
Speaking at an international seminar organised in Pakistan on Tuesday, Bhutto argued that the dispute should not be viewed solely through an environmental or diplomatic lens but as an issue directly linked to Pakistan’s security and existence. Responding to a question on why the treaty should not be treated as “diplomatic theatre”, the PPP chief said Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine identifies certain extraordinary situations—including attempts to cripple the country’s economy or restrict its waterways—as matters of national survival.
“If the closing of Pakistan’s waters is a nuclear Armageddon scenario, then Pakistan must not merely deal with this as an environmental issue, but as an existential assault on Pakistan that requires a collaborative military response,” he said. Pakistan’s nuclear policy is based on the principle of “credible minimum deterrence” and has evolved into what Islamabad describes as “full-spectrum deterrence”, aimed at countering threats ranging from limited military engagements to full-scale conflict. Unlike India, Pakistan does not follow a No First Use policy and retains the option of using nuclear weapons first if it considers its survival to be at risk.
“If anyone believes that Pakistan will surrender the Sindh, they do not know Pakistan. They do not know Sindh. They do not know Punjab. They do not know Balochistan. They do not know Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They do not know Kashmir or Gilgit Baltistan,” he said. “We want peace, but peace with dignity. We want dialogue, but dialogue under law. We want coexistence, but not submission. Pakistan will defend its water, its people, its treaty, its sovereignty and its future,” Bhutto added. At the time, he declared, “The Indus is ours and will remain ours. Either our water will flow through it, or their blood will.”
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