India calls Pakistan's flooding claims 'baseless' amid 37 deaths, says Chenab water rise due to heavy rain
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "India calls Pakistan's flooding claims 'baseless' amid 37 deaths, says Chenab water rise due to heavy rain")
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addresses a press briefing, in New Delhi on Friday. Photograph: (ANI)
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, dismissed Pakistani media reports alleging that India is deliberately causing flooding. Jaiswal labelled the allegation as "baseless" and added that it is not backed by evidence.
India on Friday (July 24) rejected Pakistan's claims that it was intentionally triggering floods across the border, calling the allegations 'baseless'. The allegations linked to a death toll of 37 people in Pakistan, with New Delhi attributing the rising water levels to heavy monsoon rains over Jammu and nearby catchment areas over the preceding four days.
According to several reports, the monsoon season has triggered flash floods and landslides, damaging houses, crops, livestock and roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, which claimed at least 37 deaths so far.
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, dismissed Pakistani media reports alleging that India is deliberately causing flooding. Jaiswal labelled the allegation as "baseless" and added that it is not backed by evidence. He also explained that the rise in the Chenab's flow stemmed directly from heavy rainfall in the region between July 20 and 23, 2026.
Upstream river flows information
To counter the claim, Jaiswal cited Pakistan’s data and said, "Significantly, Pakistan’s own Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore, in its Flood Advisory issued on 22 July 2026 (1718 PST), attributed the high flood levels in the River Chenab to heavy rainfall over the upper catchment and stated that high flows at Marala were expected to persist before gradually receding as rainfall over the catchment decreased."
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“The rise in river flows is, therefore, a natural hydrological response to heavy monsoon rainfall and not the result of any deliberate action by India. Attempts to portray a weather-driven flood event as an upstream intervention are factually incorrect, technically untenable, and contradicted by Pakistan’s own official flood advisories,” he added.
According to Dawn, a Pakistani official claimed that India didn't provide Pakistan with prior information on upstream river flows. In response, the MEA spokesperson said, "As regards allegations relating to flood warnings, the river flows during this period did not reach extraordinary discharge levels requiring the issuance of special flood warnings. The observed flows were consistent with prevailing monsoon conditions over the upper catchments, as acknowledged by Pakistan’s own flood forecasting authorities. Any suggestion that India deliberately withheld flood-related information is, therefore, without factual basis." "Nevertheless, like last year, India will share high-flood data with Pakistan on humanitarian grounds, through diplomatic channels as and when a situation arises," he said.
Reacting to questions on the Indus Waters Treaty, the MEA spokesperson stated that India remains unchanged on IWT, which will continue to be held in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. India had continued to keep IWT “in abeyance” with Pakistan since April last year, after the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
