Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday refused to give importance to the statements made by former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, saying that the country can’t move forward if attention was paid to Bhutto’s remarks.
“If we go by Bilawal Bhutto’s statements, we cannot move forward. I have been saying for a long time that the Indus Water Treaty should be reviewed again. Our rivers and we are the ones who are deprived,” Abdullah told reporters here.
The heightened tensions and security concerns over the deadly Pahalgam terrorist attack, which killed 26 people and injured many, have invoked diplomatic responses from both sides.
Abdullah’s remarks came after former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto acknowledged his country’s tango with terror operatives, saying that Pakistan has a past.
This follows Defence Minister Khwaja Asif admitting Pakistan’s involvement in backing and funding terrorist groups.
Bhutto acknowledged Pakistan’s history with extremism, claiming the nation has suffered as a result and has since reformed.
In a conversation with Sky News’s Yalda Hakim on Thursday, Bhutto said, “As far as what the defence minister said, I don’t think it is a secret that Pakistan has a past… As a result, we have suffered, Pakistan has suffered. We have gone through wave after wave of extremism. But as a result of what we suffered, we also learned our lessons. We have gone through internal reforms to address this problem…”
“As far as Pakistan’s history is concerned, it is history, and it is not something that we are partaking in today. It is true that it is an unfortunate part of our history,” Bhutto further said.
Bhutto, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman, was under fire for making a controversial “either water or blood will flow” statement, threatening India over the suspension of the Indus water treaty, which allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. (ANI)
