President Zardari warns against weaponization of water, affirms Pakistan’s stand on IWT
Reiterates Islamabad’s support for Kashmiris, Palestinians in their pursuit for self-determination
Doha: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by India could not and would not succeed, and warned against the weaponisation of water.
According to Kashmir Media Service, President Zardari addressed the issue while speaking at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar. He said: “We in Pakistan, on one hand, face the brunt of the impact of climate change, which has caused devastation for our people in the form of large-scale floods … on the other hand, we face a new threat in the form of water weaponisation. Water, which all the world knows, is an equal right of any human being and humanity.”
“We are being threatened from across the border with a new threat in the form of weaponisation of water, violation of the IWT. This poses a serious threat to 240 million Pakistanis. Such tactics cannot and will not succeed.”
Condemning the genocide, apartheid, and mass starvation in Palestine, the president also called for a just and lasting peace. He also reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for the people of Kashmir, linking both struggles as two sides of the same coin in the pursuit of justice and self-determination.
“Development must begin and end with the betterment of people,” Zardari said, adding: “We must rise above all differences to embark on a path of compassion and progress for all.”
In a meeting with the UN chief, President Zardari underscored the importance of resolving longstanding disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and called for the reversal of India’s unilateral and illegal measures. He recalled that the Kashmir dispute remained one of the oldest unresolved items on the agenda of the UN Security Council. He urged the implementation of relevant UN resolutions to ensure a just and lasting settlement in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
The president also reiterated Pakistan’s principled position on Palestine, stressing the need to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and to uphold their right to self-determination through the establishment of a viable, contiguous, and sovereign State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
