June 6, 2025
ISLAMABAD – PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday said that India was laying the ground for the first nuclear war over water with its actions regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.
India held the IWT in abeyance after the further deterioration in relations between the two countries following the April 22 Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir. In retaliation, Pakistan decided that it would exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement, in abeyance. It also announced the closure of the Wagah border and suspension of all trade with New Delhi, among other measures.
Pakistan has launched a broad-based engagement campaign in the United States to present its perspective on the recent spike in tensions with India, and counter New Delhi’s growing lobbying presence there. As part of its global outreach, the team will also visit London and Brussels. The delegation comprises former foreign ministers Bilawal, Hina Rabbani Khar and Khurram Dastgir; Senators Sherry Rehman, Musadik Malik, Faisal Sabzwari and Bushra Anjum Butt; along with senior envoys Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua.
Addressing the Middle East Institute in Washington, Bilawal said: “In the age of climate challenges that are to come, water scarcity and water wars used to be a theory. India shutting off Pakistan’s water supply is laying the foundations for the first nuclear water war. We have said that cutting off our water supply would be an act of war.
“We don’t say it in a jingoistic manner. We don’t say it with any relish. It is an existential crisis for us. Any country on the planet, no matter their size, their strength or their ability, would fight for their survival and fight for their water.”
Bilawal said India must abide by the IWT and the US and other countries must take a firm stance to not allow it to violate the treaty.
“You cannot allow this precedent to be set in the Pakistan context, because we’ll fight the first war, but it won’t be the last. If India is allowed to cut off our water, that means that every upper riparian with hostilities to a lower riparian now has a carte blanche.
“And if our dialogue and diplomacy in pursuit of peace are to be successful, if we are to talk to India, have a positive dialogue with India, make new arrangements, new deals, perhaps even new treaties with India, then surely they first must abide by the old treaties and take back their decision vis-a-vis the IWT.”
He said Pakistan wanted to pursue peace for the benefit of both countries.
Bilawal criticised the Indian government, saying it had refused cooperation on terrorism, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer for cooperation on investigating the Pahalgam attack, US President Donald Trump’s mediation in the current dispute and more dialogue.
“All that means is there’ll be more terrorism, there’ll be more war, and there’ll be no peace. The prime minister of India and his government may want to damn his people to this fate. I refuse to damn my people, and I refuse to damn the people of India to this fate, which is why my delegation and I will be traveling from capital to capital with a simple message: We want peace. We need your help.”
Working together, Bilawal said India and Pakistan could achieve a lot more than individually.
“Surely, India and Pakistan working together, we can eradicate terrorism from the subcontinent. India and Pakistan working together can create that conducive environment in Kashmir where the people that live there can live there free from oppression, suffocation, and actually see prosperity. India and Pakistan’s cooperation obviously would require the waters to flow freely, but it should lead to broader cooperation.
“The challenge of climate change and water scarcity is a challenge for Pakistan. It’s also a challenge for India. How are we going to face the coming decade? We’ve already experienced devastating floods, droughts and the manifestation of climate change in various forms.
“I believe Pakistan and India working together can meet that challenge as well. If we don’t rise to this occasion, then let there be no mistake, the blame for the carnage, the devastation, the scourge, the quarrel, will lie at the footsteps of Narendra Modi and his government. You’ve heard today, I don’t want to go into repetition.”
Further lashing out at the current Indian administration, Bilawal said: “Now they’re damning my generation, future generations, not only to fight over Kashmir, not only to go to full-out war whenever there’s a terrorist attack, but now we’re damning future generations of Indians and Pakistanis to fight over water.
“This is why I am so confident, I am so passionate in our cause. I refuse to damn the people of my country and I bear no ill will to the people of India. I refuse to damn the youth of India that my children and their children will fight over water, over Kashmir, over terrorists.”
Earlier, the high-level delegation stressed the need for dialogue with India in a series of meetings with US Congress members in Washington, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday.
During Wednesday’s discussions at Capitol Hill, the delegation underscored the urgency of dialogue on the Kashmir issue, noting it was an “unfinished agenda of the United Nations”.
It stressed the imperative of respect for international law, UN Security Council resolutions and the IWT, Radio Pakistan added.
Bilawal emphasised that sustainable peace in South Asia hinged on dialogue, restraint and a just resolution of the Kashmir dispute, rather than “unilateralism or intimidation”.
He briefed members of Congress on India’s recent acts of unprovoked aggression, including the targeting of civilians, as well as the “deeply concerning” and unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
Bilawal appreciated the US, particularly “President Donald Trump, for his constructive role in helping de-escalate tensions and supporting efforts towards a ceasefire”, according to the report.
The delegation reiterated Pakistan’s principled stance on regional peace, counterterrorism efforts and recent Indian aggression, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment “to peace, responsible conduct, and rejection of baseless allegations”.
Meanwhile, members of the Congress welcomed the Pakistani delegation, urging “both countries to demonstrate restraint and prioritise regional peace and stability”, Radio Pakistan stated.
They reiterated the US support for the people of Pakistan and its commitment to aiding the country’s economic progress.
Separately, Bilawal posted on X that his team met with Congressmen Jack Bergman and Tom Suozzi, who co-chair the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, along with Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar and Republican Party’s Ryan Keith Zinke.
During the meeting, the Pakistani delegation underscored that enduring regional peace rested on “principled dialogue, mutual restraint, and a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, not unilateralism and coercion”.
Bergman and Suozzi were among a group of lawmakers who visited Pakistan in April and met with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, along with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Bergman has repeatedly voiced support for former prime minister Imran Khan, calling for his release.
On the delegation’s meeting with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, Bilawal termed the exchange constructive. The PPP chairman said they discussed “Pakistan’s deep concerns over India’s increasingly belligerent posture and its refusal to engage, whether through dialogue, joint investigation, or third-party facilitation”.
He also met with Democratic Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, “for a frank discussion on peace and stability in our region”.
“Shared Pakistan’s concerns over the new abnormal imposed by Mr. Modi, where every incident by nameless actors triggers unprovoked aggression, risking war between two nuclear-armed neighbours,” Bilawal said on X.
Bilawal further met with Republican Senator Jim Banks for a “candid discussion” on regional peace and security […] and appreciated the “critical peacemaker role played by President Trump in facilitating the ceasefire understanding, intended as a pathway to broader, sustained peace and dialogue”.
“Reiterated that there is no military solution to our challenges. Only diplomacy and dialogue can deliver lasting peace in South Asia,” the ex-foreign minister added.
A day ago, the delegation concluded its two-day visit to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where it met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, along with elected and permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Another delegation, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, visited Moscow from June 2 to June 4. It met with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin.
On its part, India had also announced that seven all-party delegations would visit key partner countries, as well as meet members of the UNSC, to present the country’s stance on terrorism and “project India’s national consensus”.
Pakistan wants Trump to arrange talks with India
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the recent four-day conflict had revealed the “Pahalgam incident was a false-flag operation”, and credited Trump for playing a decisive role in ensuring a ceasefire.
Addressing an event at the US Embassy in Islamabad marking the 249th anniversary of American independence, the premier said Trump had shown beyond any doubt that “he is a man for peace … and beneficial business deals”.
He added, “President Trump is a man against escalation and a man against cold and hot war.”
PM Shehbaz said Pakistan downed six Indian fighter jets in self-defence after Indian aggression on May 6-7 resulted in the deaths of 33 Pakistani civilians.
“We responded with restraint and patience,” he said. “Our offer for an impartial international probe into the Pahalgam incident was met with aggression instead.”
He said that India “should have come out with solid evidence and convinced the world about the occurrence of the incident”.