Pakistan to issue formal diplomatic notice to India over IWT suspension

Islamabad, May 2 (IANS) The government of Pakistan has decided to issue a formal diplomatic notice to India over its "unilateral decision" to put the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance after the Pehalgam terror attack in which 26 innocent civilians were gunned down by four terrorists, including two Pakistanis, on April 22.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law, and relevant quarters of water resources have been engaged in constant deliberations immediately after India announced that it was putting the IWT in abeyance in response to measures taken against Islamabad after Pahalgam terror incident.

Sources revealed that preliminary groundwork to lodge a formal notice has been completed and it will be dispatched in the coming days through diplomatic channels.

"The notice will seek concrete explanations from India for suspending the landmark 1960 treaty, which governs water sharing between the two countries," sources in the Indus Commission said.

Moreover, Pakistan is also working towards lodging formal complaints at global forums including the World Bank (WB), which is the guarantor of the agreement.

Complaints will also be lodged at the United Nations (UN) and other global forums through diplomatic outreach.

Pakistan terms India's unilateral decision to suspend the IWT as New Delhi’s water aggression, and believes that it holds legal primacy on the treaty.

"We believe that India will be compelled to revisit its decision on the IWT. Pakistan will take all actions following the approval from the federal cabinet," said a government source in Islamabad.

India has blamed Pakistan for the Pahalgam attack after The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility for it.

New Delhi has also made it clear that the perpetrators and planners of the Pahalgam terror attack have to be brought to justice first and that blood and water cannot flow together.

--IANS

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