Iran Press/Asia: India vowed Thursday to cut back on water flowing through its rivers to arid Pakistan, after the attack on February 14 in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, The Guardian reported.
“Our government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan,” Nitin Gadkari, transport and water resources minister, said in a tweet on Thursday.
He added that the country would divert water from eastern rivers and supply it to its people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab states.
Gadkari did not elaborate but officials from his ministry said he was re-stating decisions already taken by prime minister Narendra Modi, including a dam project cleared by his cabinet last December. Officials said no new decision had been taken on Thursday.
Some analysts said this was the strongest threat India has made yet since the attack in which a suicide bomber killed more than 40 Indian troops in the disputed region of Kashmir.
A full-blown water war could be catastrophic to the hundreds of millions of people in India and Pakistan who depend on river water. But this latest threat was not accompanied by details on when or how India might act to divert more water from Pakistan downstream or how large, in reality, such diversions would be. 103/211/209
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India issues harsh warning to Pakistan over Kashmir attack
Photo: Indian army's heavy security presence in Srinagar, Kashmir
