Pakistani military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry criticised India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty during a public address at a university in Pakistan.

Referring to the move, Chaudhry warned, “If you stop the water, God willing, we will stop your breath, and then blood shall follow in these rivers.”

His statement mirrors the hostile rhetoric used by Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, known for his inflammatory speeches against India and the United States. In a video, doing the rounds on social media platform ‘X’, Hafiz Saeed can be heard saying those same words.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, governs the sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan, and mandates regular information exchange on water use.

India’s suspension of parts of the treaty was part of countermeasures against Islamabad, which also included “Operation Sindoor” on May 7, targeting nine terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.

'Treaty in abeyance'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, once again, asserted that the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan will remain in "abeyance" until Islamabad "credibly and irrevocably" abjures support to cross-border terrorism as "water and blood" cannot flow together.

Speaking at a rally in Deshnoke, Bikaner, Modi said, “There will be neither trade nor talks with Pakistan. If there are talks, they will be on PoK.”

"And if Pakistan continues to export terrorists, it will have to beg for every penny. Pakistan will not get India's rightful share of water. Playing with the blood of Indians will cost Pakistan dearly. This is India's resolve and no power in the world can shake us from this resolve," he said.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that any bilateral talks with Islamabad will only be on vacation of illegally occupied territories of Kashmir by Pakistan.