New Delhi: Pakistan has slammed India for its diplomatic actions after the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 dead, including tourists, in an escalation of tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Since the attack on Tuesday, India has suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, expelled Pakistani nationals and closed the Attari border crossing, among other measures to downgrade ties between the two nations.
On the sweeping decisions, Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, in a televised interview on GeoTV Wednesday, said, “This is a deeply inappropriate way to vent frustration.”
Dar also dismissed accusations of Pakistani involvement in the terror attack as “unserious” and “inappropriate”. New Delhi, he said, had failed to produce any credible evidence.
Earlier on Wednesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held a press briefing during which he cited “cross-border linkages” in the Pahalgam terror attack. Pakistan has condemned the attack and denied any involvement.
“India has not presented any proof regarding the terror incident. Its announcements reflect a lack of seriousness. It is a reaction rooted more in anger than fact,” Dar said.
He further said, “This is a political move on its part. Pakistan will try to act maturely. If India has evidence, it should give it to us and show the world, but right now, this seems political and very undesirable. The answer will be given—a response in the national interest of Pakistan … We will not lie low. We are a nuclear nation, too.”
Dar announced in the interview that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would convene an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee to prepare an official response.
In line with the announcement, Pakistani senior military commanders, cabinet ministers, and intelligence officials gathered on Thursday to assess the evolving crisis and formulate a coordinated strategy, reported The Express Tribune. The Pakistani media outlet added that Pakistan would likely give its response later in the day.
On his official X account, Dar has shared a Quranic verse, questioning the sincerity of those who use religious rhetoric to disguise political motives—a veiled critique of what Islamabad sees as the opportunistic behaviour of India.
Also Read: Canada condemns Pahalgam terror attack nearly 30 hours later, last G7 country to do so
Political theatre?
In the same TV show on Wednesday, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that giving an immediate response would not be right; it had to be a well-considered response.
He also said that India had always wanted to walk away from the Indus treaty, adding that even when he was the power minister, separate forums would ask him to refrain from giving India any opportunity to leave, since it had always wanted that. He added India, even if it wished to, could not suspend the treaty because other players, such as the World Bank, were involved.
“The treaty was signed under an international umbrella, and we have done more than 150 inspections of the Indian side—the falls, the ridges, sizes of the canals,” Khawaja Asif said.
He added that in case India escalated the tension, Pakistan had a contingency plan ready.
“Inshallah, as we had responded during Abhinandan, we will respond again,” Asif said.
Abhinandan Varthaman is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who, on 27 February 2019, was held captive when his plane was shot down inside Pakistani territory and repatriated on 1 March 2019.
Despite his warning of an Abhinandan-like response, Khawaja Asif cautioned against issuing a “knee-jerk” reaction to India suspending Pakistan’s defence attachés and other measures.
“No other country has been the target of terrorism in the way Pakistan has. As we speak, terrorism is ongoing in KP and Balochistan, and we do not need to mention who the sponsors are. Terrorism anywhere deserves condemnation. But if these acts are used as a pedestal to hurt us, it is in our right to respond,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, former caretaker PM of Pakistan Anwar ul Haq Kakar also blamed the unrest in Balochistan on “miscreants” backed by India while dismissing claims of underdevelopment in the province as unfounded.
Speaking at a ‘meet the press’ event at the Lahore Press Club, Kakar alleged that India was the sole force behind terrorism in Balochistan, providing support to separatist elements. He expressed confidence that, like other nations that have overcome internal strife, Pakistan would also emerge from its period of instability.
Pointing out multiple infighting in India in Manipur, Chhattisgarh and Kashmir, Khawaja Asif said that even though Pakistan also had issues over resource allocations in Balochistan, the “entire country will stand united against a common enemy” when the time comes.
“If India does adventurism of this sort—you witnessed our response in the Abhinandan case—we will follow suit,” he said.
Other Pakistani officials have echoed Dar’s concerns.
Ex-ambassador to the US, UK, and UN Maleeha Lodhi, appearing on a national talk show, called India’s actions “dangerous” and “baseless.”
“This is always the pattern—blame Pakistan without investigation. Such calls for revenge by Indian media only raise the risk of further escalation,” Lodhi said.
A sharply worded editorial in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English-language daily, warned that South Asia stood “on a knife’s edge.” Dawn criticised India’s “knee-jerk” reaction, particularly the Indus treaty suspension, calling it an “alarming and reckless precedent”.
Legal and environmental experts have echoed similar thoughts.
Jamaat Ali Shah, a former Pakistan commissioner for Indus waters, told The Express Tribune that India’s unilateral move violated both the spirit and letter of the treaty.
“This is nothing more than political theatre,” Jamaat Ali Shah said. “India cannot revoke or suspend the treaty without Pakistan’s consent. Any such attempt would not only forfeit its rights to eastern rivers but also discredit global treaty obligations.”
He also noted that the World Bank, while not a guarantor of the treaty, played a critical role in facilitating dispute arbitration, highlighting existing mechanisms India could choose.
Pakistan Power Minister Awais Leghari, going a step further, called India’s move a “water war”. “Every drop of water is our right, and we will defend it with all our might—legally, politically, and internationally,” he said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)