- Military’s spokesperson says peace is the first choice of Pakistani people and int’l community understands this spirit
- Pakistan committed to US-brokered ceasefire after recent cross-border strikes
- India is the main sponsor and abettor of terrorism in the region, especially in Pakistan, funding Fitna al Khwarij and Baloch terrorist groups
- Warns of a high potential for renewed conflict if the core issue, Kashmir, remains unaddressed
RAWALPINDI: Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has warned that any Indian attempt to follow through on recent threats to stop Pakistan’s share of the Indus River water system would trigger consequences lasting for generations.
During an interview with RT Arabic, Lt-Gen Chaudhry when was asked what will be Pakistan’s reaction if India stops Pakistan’s water, stated, “I think the government of Pakistan has made it absolutely clear. There is nothing more for the army to say. I can only say that it is some mad man who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country. Dare not, cannot. You want me to explain those actions. I hope that time doesn’t come, but it will be such action that the world will see and the consequences of that will be felt for years and decades to come. Nobody dare stop water of Pakistan.”
“It is some madman who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country.”
India unilaterally announced suspension of the decades-old the Indus Water treaty – the water-sharing agreement between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, last month, after blaming Pakistan for a deadly militant attack on tourists in Pahalgam, a tourist resort in Indian-occupied Kashmir — Islamabad denied any involvement.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry #DGISPR exclusive interview to @RT_com
⚠️Important Revelations #Pakistan #India #ISPR
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) May 18, 2025
The incident was followed by days of cross-border fire as India launched on May 6 a series of strikes across the Line of Control — the de facto border that separates the Indian-controlled and Pakistani-controlled parts of the disputed Kashmir territory. It also hit other sites on the Pakistani mainland, targeting what it claimed were militant positions.
Pakistan retaliated with strikes on Indian military targets before a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on May 10. Despite the ceasefire, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this week that his country would stop the water from flowing — a move Pakistan has earlier said was a direct threat to its survival and an act of war.
Brokered by the World Bank, the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty has withstood multiple Indian-Pakistani wars. If India weaponizes water and blocks the flow of an Indus River tributary — vital to Pakistan’s food security — its military says it will act.
During the interview with R T Arabic, Lt-Gen Chaudhry pointed out that India tried to deter Pakistanis, but it forgot that it could not do this to the people and armed forces of Pakistan. He said the world saw how the entire Pakistani nation stood like a Bunyanum Marsoos, an iron wall, against the Indian aggression.
“India cannot deter, coerce or make Pakistanis bow down through aggression.”
The ISPR DG said that peace is the first choice of the Pakistani people and the international community understands this spirit of the Pakistani nation. He said that India was the main sponsor and abettor of terrorism in the region, especially in Pakistan, as it was funding Fitna al Khwarij and terrorist groups operating in Balochistan. He said that Indian policy of sponsoring terrorism is the main cause of tension with Pakistan.
Instead of acknowledging and dealing with this fact, he said, India hides behind its false narrative of terrorism and hubristically acts as a judge, jury and executioner. He said that India blamed Pakistan without any evidence said after the Pahalgam incident.
He said Pakistan had a categorical stance and asked India to provide evidence to any neutral body for probe and “we are ready to cooperate with it”. But instead of opting for that rational approach, India unilaterally decided to attack mosques and innocent civilians in Pakistan.
The ISPR DG said it was then that Pakistan retaliated, and that too in a very mature, measured, proportionate and just manner. He said that Pakistan hit only military targets and not a single civilian infrastructure was targeted. He said Pakistan’s retribution was swift and brutal, and put sense in the adversary to dial down and face the reality.
To a question, the DG said the Indian Defence Ministry requested de-escalation after Pakistan retaliated. As a peace loving country, he said, Pakistan accepted this request and then the interlocutors and international players stepped in to broker a ceasefire.
“Pakistan armed forces are a professional armed forces and we adhere to the commitments that we make, and we follow in letter and spirit the instructions of the political government and the commitments that they hold,” Chaudhry said.
“As far as Pakistan army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence building measures in communication between both the sides.”
Both countries have already blamed each other for violating the ceasefire multiple times since it took effect.
“If any violation occurs, our response is always there … but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target the civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure,” Chaudhry said.
To another question, the DG said the armed forces performed the duty they were entrusted by the state and people of Pakistan, the duty of defending the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and they will continue to defend it at all costs.
The DG lauded the role of Pakistan’s diplomatic corps and said they acted very finely and astutely, and engaged the international community in a remarkable manner.
According to the Pakistani military, India has lost six airplanes and an S-400 air defense system — Russia’s most advanced surface to air missile system — in the four-day conflict. Among the downed warplanes were several French aircraft Rafale.
Earlier reports suggested India had lost five fighter jets, but Pakistan’s prime minister announced earlier this week that there were six.
“I can confirm that the sixth aircraft is a Mirage 2000,” Chaudhry said. “We only targeted the aircraft … We could have taken out more, but we showed restraint.”
Satellite photos captured after India’s strikes on May 6, show significant damage to multiple Pakistani air bases. High-resolution images from Maxar Technologies show large craters on runways and destruction of hangars and support structures at these facilities.
Lt-Gen Chaudhry said that despite damage to infrastructure, they remained active: “There are ways through which Pakistan Air Force immediately sets these bases operational — they are all operational.”
He warned of a high potential for renewed conflict despite the ceasefire, as long as the core issue, Kashmir, remains unaddressed.
Predominantly Muslim, Kashmiri territory has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Both countries claim Kashmir in full, and rule in part.
Indian-administered Kashmir has for decades witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgency to resist control from the government in New Delhi.
In 2019, the Indian government revoked the region’s constitutional semi-autonomy and downgraded it from a state to a union territory under New Delhi’s direct control.
Indian officials have repeatedly said that the move aimed at tackling separatism and bringing economic development and peace to Kashmir.
