- Britain’s David Lammy says working with US to ensure India-Pakistan ceasefire endures
- Lammy says Britain would continue to work with Pakistan on countering ‘terrorism’
ISLAMABAD: UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Lammy on Saturday urged “all sides” to abide by their treaty obligations, referring to India’s move last month to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan in abeyance unilaterally.
Delhi’s suspension of its participation in the 1960 IWT was part of its series of measures against Pakistan, which it blamed, without any evidence, for a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Pakistan strongly denied any involvement and offered a neutral probe into it.
“We would urge all sides to meet their treaty obligations,” Lammy told Reuters in Islamabad at the end of his two-day visit, when asked about India’s April 23 suspension of the (IWT), potentially squeezing Pakistan’s water supply.
The 1960 pact governs the use of the Indus River system. Pakistan has said it would consider “any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan” to be an “act of war”.
Islamabad plans to launch international legal action against India over its move. The Pakistan Commission on Indus Waters earlier this month shared a detailed report with the federal government about massive violations of the IWT by New Delhi.
During his interview with Reuters, Lammy also said Britain was working with the US to ensure a ceasefire between India and Pakistan endures.
“We will continue to work with the United States to ensure that we get an enduring ceasefire, to ensure that dialogue is happening and to work through with Pakistan and India how we can get to confidence and confidence-building measures between the two sides,” Lammy said.
“These are two neighbours with a long history but they are two neighbours that have barely been able to speak to one other over this past period, and we want to ensure that we do not see further escalation and that the ceasefire endures,” he added.
Pakistan has said Britain and other countries, in addition to the United States, played a major role in de-escalating the fighting. Diplomats and analysts say the ceasefire remains fragile.
Lammy also said Britain would continue to work with Pakistan on countering “terrorism”, saying that it is “a terrible blight on this country and its people, and of course on the region”.
US averted likely Pak-India nuclear war: Trump
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Washington had averted what could have been a nuclear war between Pakistan and India.
The military confrontation between India and Pakistan came as tensions over the Pahalgam attack allegations continued to build up. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir, resulting in civilian casualties. Islamabad responded by downing five Indian jets.
After intercepting drones sent by India and tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention for both sides to finally drop their guns. On May 10, when tensions between the two countries peaked, Trump announced that a ceasefire had been reached between India and Pakistan.
“The situation had escalated to the point where nuclear war could have broken out,” Trump said in an interview with US outlet Fox News on Friday.
Responding to a question about getting both countries to step back from the brink of war, Trump called it a “bigger success than I will ever be given credit for”.
“Those are major nuclear powers […] and they were angry. […] It was tit-for-tat, it was getting deeper and more missiles,” he said. He added the next step would have been “the N-word”, responding in the affirmative to the host confirming he meant “nuclear”.
“That’s the worst thing that can happen,” Trump noted. Referring to discussions he said he had with both Pakistan and India on trade, the US president said: “I’m using trade to settle scores and make peace.”
Trump said that he had great conversations with Pakistan. “You know we can’t forget them because it takes two to tango.”
“So proud of what we’re able to do with India and with Pakistan,” the US president said.
He continued that Pakistan would love to trade with the US. “They are brilliant people. They make amazing products. We don’t do much trading with them.”
As the US imposed heavy levies on dozens of allies and rivals alike on April 2, Pakistan was hit by a 29 per cent tariff on goods it exports to the US. The government has said it is seeking ways to address the existing trade imbalance between the two countries.
On trade with New Delhi, Trump said that India was one of the highly tariffed nations, making it almost “impossible to do business”.
However, India is ready to cut 100pc of its tariffs for the US, he added. “That deal will come soon,” the president said.
On Thursday, he had stated that India had offered a trade deal that proposed “no tariffs” for American goods.
This interview was the third time in a week that the US president expressed his intention of deepening trade ties with Pakistan and India.
“We’re going to do a lot of trade with Pakistan … and India,” Trump said earlier this week, recalling that he warned both countries of “not doing any trade” if they did not stop fighting. A day after the ceasefire, he said he was going “to increase trade substantially with both of these great nations”.
The US-brokered ceasefire had brought a halt to a week of record escalation between Pakistan and India as the latter took a series of unprovoked military actions despite Islamabad’s call for a neutral probe into India’s allegations over the Pahalgam attack.
Trump said after the ceasefire was struck that talks should take place in a third-country venue but no dates or location for the talks have been announced.
