‘Will go to war’: Pakistan defence minister warns India over Indus waters

New Delhi: Tensions between India and Pakistan over the Indus water have escalated further after the Pakistani defence minister, Khawaja Asif, warned that Islamabad could go to war if it believes India’s actions threaten the country’s water security. Asif made these remarks while speaking to ARY News on Sunday.

Asif described water as a core national security concern and said Pakistan would not hesitate to respond if its access to Indus water came under threat. “The moment we feel that our national security – and water is part of our national security – is being threatened, we will go to war against India. Definitely,” Asif said.

He also indicated that Pakistan could act if it sensed India was moving quickly to restrict or alter water flows under the decades-old river-sharing arrangement.

The remarks come amid growing tensions over the future of the Indus Waters Treaty, which India placed in abeyance after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir that killed 26 innocent people. New Delhi had blamed Pakistan-backed terrorists for the attack and suspended the 1960 agreement, saying it would remain on ice until Islamabad takes credible and irreversible action against cross-border terrorism.

Pakistan has repeatedly opposed India’s decision, arguing that any disruption to water flows could have severe consequences for millions of people who depend on the Indus river system for agriculture, irrigation and daily needs.

The latest warning follows recent statements by the Union water minister, CR Patil, who said India is moving ahead with plans to maximize the use of Indus waters within its territory and that the flow of water to Pakistan could be halted in the coming years. As reported by RNA Media on June 10, home minister Amit Shah had also asserted that Pakistan would not receive “even a single drop” of water from India under the government’s new approach to the Indus river system.

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar, has already sought intervention from the UN security council over what Islamabad calls violations of the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan has also accused India of planning river-linking projects that could divert waters from the Chenab River, allegations New Delhi has not accepted.