Pakistani officials mock India’s goodwill gesture on impending flood: ‘Intentionally accumulated water to release it’

Pakistan authorities have pooh-poohed India’s goodwill gesture of alerting Pakistan about the “high probability” of flooding in the Tawi river as “questionable”, describing it as a political messaging that seeks to reassert its stance on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). For the first time since Operation Sindhoor,  India had alerted Pakistan of flooding in the Tawi River on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A report that appeared in Karachi-based Dawn claimed New Delhi was “using the devastating floods sweeping across northern India and Pakistan to reassert its unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.”

The report claimed that flood alerts issued by India concerning the Tawi and Sutlej rivers were “skeletal and contained little more than a high flood classification, leaving Pakistani authorities to guess at the discharge volumes and timings.” Before, the alerts were detailed and  included advanced forecasts of potential flood volumes, expected timings, and specific rivers likely to be affected. It used to come via the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), unlike the Indian High Commission.

“The Indian side is just providing the information in a very generic way by stating only the flood classification (High Flood) with no specific details on discharge magnitude,” Pakistan’s Federal Flood Commissioner, Ahmed Kamal, was quoted by Dawn.

The report then claimed Indian media portrayed the warnings as evidence of New Delhi’s “humanitarian face” despite strained ties.

The report also quoted former high commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, who said India’s warnings carried a signal to the domestic audience that “it would show no flexibility on the issue of suspension of the IWT”. “It conveyed that its pressure for the treaty’s revival would be ineffective; and to the world, it projected that India had acted on humanitarian grounds, showcasing a humane and considerate side despite prevailing tensions,” Basit told Dawn.

The narrative from the ruling class has been more or less similar, with Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal accusing New Delhi of aggravating the disaster. Iqbal accused India of intentionally accumulating water and releasing it in massive volumes to inflict damage on Pakistan. Iqbal, without any evidence, continued to spew venom on India in a desperate bid to get the IWT suspension revoked.