'Indus Treaty will remain suspended': S Jaishankar after Pakistan's plea to Jal Shakti Ministry
New Delhi/IBNS: After Islamabad's plea to the Jal Shakti Ministry asking India to reconsider the suspension decision of the Indus Waters Treaty, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday said the same "will continue to be kept in abeyance until cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped".
Pakistan, which depends heavily on the waters of the Indus River both for agriculture and drinking purpose, has written to the Jal Shakti ministry asking that India reconsider the matter.
India had suspended the Indus Water Treaty after the deadly terrorist attack on civilians, mostly Hindus tourists, in Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. Invoking its national security prerogative, India said the treaty would be suspended until Islamabad stops backing terrorism.
His remark came amid a huge controversy over President Donald Trump's claims that the US had brokered peace between the two countries.
Jaishankar said it was clear who had called for a ceasefire.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, Jaishankar said the precision strikes on terror bases on May 7 as a part of Operation Sindoor, in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, were directed only at terrorists and not the Pakistan military.
"We were not striking at the Pakistani military, so the military had an option of standing out and not interfering. But they chose not to take good advice," Jaishankar said.
"Satellite pictures brought out graphically how much damage we did... and how little damage they did. The same people who were not willing to stand down on May 7 were willing to stand down and talk on May 10. So it was clear who wanted the cessation of firing," he said.
He said India's relations and talks with Pakistan will be "strictly bilateral", which is a national stance for many years, and there is "absolutely no change" in that consensus.
The statement comes as President Donald Trump had announced a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan minutes before the foreign ministry announced it on May 10.
Three days later, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on Operation Sindoor, Trump claimed he told India and Pakistan that the US brokered the peace using trade as leverage.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
