Pakistan said on Wednesday any attempt by India to divert the water of three rivers flowing into the country would be considered an act of aggression, Dawn reported. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said at a rally in Haryana that India would stop water from flowing to Pakistan, and redirect it to the state.

“After imposing a crushing curfew and disconnecting the Kashmir Valley for more than two months now, some statements coming from [the] Indian leadership are another glaring example of the fact that the present government of India is bent upon making India an irresponsible, aggressive state that has no regard for human rights or international obligation,” said Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal.

Faisal was referring to India’s decision, on August 5, to abrogate the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Faisal said Pakistan has “exclusive rights” over the water of three rivers – Indus, Chenab and Jhelum – under the Indus Waters Treaty. India controls Beas, Ravi and Sutlej.

In his rally in Charkhi Dadri district, Modi had said: “For 70 years, the water which belongs to India and the farmers of Haryana flowed to Pakistan. Modi will stop this water [from flowing into Pakistan] and bring to your houses.”

On August 21, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had said the Centre had started the process of stopping water from flowing to Pakistan but added that the Indus Waters Treaty would not be violated. The remark came a day after India rejected Pakistan’s claims that it was not informed about the release of water from a dam that could cause flooding in its territory. Islamabad also accused New Delhi of waging “fifth-generation warfare” and alleged that the unexpected release of water into the Sutlej was an attempt to break the treaty.

The Indus Waters Treaty, drawn up in September 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, lays down rules for how the water of the Indus and its tributaries that flow in both the countries needs to be used.

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