Live updates on Pakistan, India tensions

India has used the armed attack in Indian Occupied Kashmir as a pretext to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan for domestic political purposes, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said, as he called for an international inquiry into the incident.

India, he told the New York Times, was taking steps to punish Pakistan “without any proof, without any investigation.”

In the interview with the NYT on Friday, Asif said that Pakistan was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors.

“We do not want this war to flare up, because flaring up of this war can cause disaster for this region,” the defence minister said.

Iran has offered to mediate between Pakistan and India in the aftermath of the tensions following Pahalgam attack in IIOJK.

Taking to X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran was ready to use its good offices in Islamabad and New Delhi to forge greater understanding at this difficult time.

Araghchi further urged both countries to exercise self-restraint to manage crisis.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Parliamentary Leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, warned India that any act of aggression would be met with a "tit-for-tat" response.

In a post on the social media platform X, Siddiqui accused India of shedding its democratic credentials, stating it has become "the largest killing field for Muslims and other minorities."

"Following Israel’s footsteps, Narendra Modi is attempting to turn illegally Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) into another Palestine and Gaza," Siddiqui said.

He further warned that any attempt by India to disrupt the flow of Pakistani rivers or to construct a dam would tantamount to an act of war and would be responded to "with full force."

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari strongly criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a "global terrorist" whose rise to power worsens international stability.

Bokhari firmly rejected allegations linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam incident, calling them baseless and part of a deliberate smear campaign.

Speaking at a DGPR press conference, she emphasised that Pakistan had expressed deep sorrow and condemned the killing of innocent civilians in Pahalgam, Occupied Kashmir.

She criticised India for blaming Pakistan without any investigation.

She said Indian forces and its intelligence agencies were addicted to blaming others.

Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan says at least 12 Pakistani nationals on short-term visas have been identified for deportation, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Indian media reports. 

“The government will take appropriate action on this, and they will be deported soon,” he told reporters from Bhubaneswar in the eastern Indian state.

The official added that police continue their efforts to “identify the infiltrators”.

India has released extra water from Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir (IIOJK) into the Jhelum River without informing Pakistan, causing flooding.

Around 22,000 cusecs of water are passing through Domel, Muzaffarabad, and authorities have warned people to stay away from the river.

Tensions rose after a recent shooting in Pahalgam, a hill station in IIOJK, that killed 26 people.

Without investigating the incident, India's Hindu nationalist government blamed Pakistan and announced the suspension of the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty.

Pakistan rejected the move, with the National Security Committee (NSC) warning that water is Pakistan’s lifeline and any attempt to block or divert it would be treated as an act of war.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the use of water as a weapon is unacceptable and Pakistan would defend its right at all costs.

During a telephone conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday, the premier reaffirmed that Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

He said Pakistan has no linkage, either direct or indirect, with the Pahalgam attack. He said, in fact, Pakistan has itself been one of the biggest victims of terrorism over the last two decades, in which it lost thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

He added Pakistan is ready for a neutral investigation into the Pahalgam incident.

Sharing Pakistan's position on India's provocative actions following the Pahalgam incident, the Prime Minister said Pakistan desires peace in the region and would welcome if Iran also wants to play a role in this regard.

On Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister emphasised that Pakistan would always stand shoulder to shoulder with the Kashmiri people and it would continue to support them in their just struggle for their right to self- determination as enshrined in various UN resolutions.

Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi said any misadventure by India in the wake of the Pahalgam incident falsely blamed on Pakistan would cost it dearly.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said since Narendra Modi came to power in India such false flag operations had been going on to target Pakistan.

Within five minutes of the Pahalgam incident, he said, India levelled the allegation that Pakistan was involved and on that pretext abrogated the Indus Water Treat,y threatening to stop rivers flowing to the latter.

He said Pakistan would not compromise on the water of its rivers and the entire nation was united to take every possible step to protect its rights.

"It was strange that such a terror act could occur in the presence of over 800,000 occupation troops deployed across the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK). In fact the Indus Water Treaty was the target and that was why such a false flag terror act was carried out by India itself," he added.

However, he said, India should keep in view that “we can tighten the noose around it” in case of any misadventure. Pakistan had missiles like Shaheen and Ghauri, which were in a ready-to-launch position. “If India fires one missile, we will fire 200 in response.” 

LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said his party would support Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif if he decided to convene an All Parties Conference (APC) in response to India’s recent hostile actions.

Speaking to a private news channel, he said the PPP fully backs the government's measures taken in reaction to India’s provocative moves. He emphasised that the current government had made multiple offers for dialogue, but India consistently rejected them.

He also criticised India’s decision to halt water flow to Pakistan, terming it an act of aggression. "We will not remain silent if India attempts to weaponise water," he asserted.

He further said that India was trying to use terrorism as a pretext to unilaterally scrap the Indus Waters Treaty, but such actions had only exposed New Delhi’s true face before the world.

"India knows that its legal position on the Indus Waters Treaty is weak," Bilawal remarked, adding that Pakistan’s rights over its allocated rivers under the treaty were clear and indisputable.

As part of a series of diplomatic calls to brotherly nations, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also spoke with his Turkish counterpart.

According to a statement, Dar updated him on the National Security Committee’s (NSC) decisions in response to baseless Indian allegations.

He also thanked Türkiye for its continued support to Pakistan on all fronts. Both leaders agreed to maintain close contact because of the changing situation in the region.