&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'Our lifeblood has been drained': Omar Abdullah backs continued suspension of Indus Waters Treaty")
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday (August 14) backed the continued suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, saying the people of the region have long suffered due to restrictions on the use of their water resources under the agreement.
Abdullah also criticised Pakistan for its position on the treaty, questioning its claims of supporting the people of Kashmir while opposing India's move on water rights.
"Our lifeblood has been drained; these are our rivers, and we had the primary right to them. Pakistan claims to be a great sympathiser of the Kashmiris, but when it comes to the issue of water, that sympathy vanishes. Where was this sympathy when we were stripped of the right to utilise our own rivers? We have been bearing the brunt of this Indus Waters Treaty ever since," he told reporters.
"The Indus Waters Treaty is suspended, and it should remain suspended so that we can make proper use of this water," he added.
India put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack. The government said the 1960 treaty "will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism".
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The decision has significant implications for Pakistan, which depends heavily on the Indus River system for its agriculture and water needs. The system supports 80% of its 16 million hectares of agricultural land and accounts for 93% of its total water use.
The Indus River system also supports 237 million people and contributes one-fourth of Pakistan's GDP through crops including wheat, rice and cotton.
Sharif warns of direct response
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has threatened a "direct response" over the water issue as the country faces several crises, including rising militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and unrest and human-rights abuses in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Sharif again targeted India in his remarks at an event held on the eve of Pakistan's Independence Day on Thursday. “If India does not come to the right path, we will give it a direct response,” he said
