Pakistan Slams Jaishankar Remarks, Warns Over Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan on Saturday criticised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for his remarks about the country, claiming that the comments were made to deflect attention from India's own “troubling record” of "promoting instability" in the region.

On Friday, Jaishankar declared that India has every right to protect its citizens from "bad neighbours" and that a nearby nation cannot ask New Delhi to share water if it keeps spreading terrorism within its borders. But he didn't mention any nations.

“Pakistan firmly rejects the irresponsible assertions made by the Indian External Affairs Minister," Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said in a statement to media queries.

Once again, India "seeks to deflect attention from its own troubling record" as a neighbour that "contributes to regional instability", Andrabi alleged.

Additionally, he stated that any unilateral breach of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), an international accord reached in good faith and at significant expense, would jeopardise regional stability.

Pakistan will take all necessary steps to protect its rightful rights under the pact, he threatened.

The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 was placed in "abeyance" as part of India's retaliatory actions against Pakistan, which began the day after the terror incident in Pahalgam on April 22 of last year.

Since 1960, the distribution and use of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan have been regulated by the Indus Waters Treaty, which was mediated by the World Bank.

Pakistani commitment to "extend full political, moral, and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle to realise their right to self-determination" is unwavering, according to Andrabi.