Omar Abdullah slams Pakistan, says Indus Water Treaty sucked blood of J&K people

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday batted for continued suspension of India Water Treaty, saying Pakistan should not be selective in expressing sympathies with people on this side of the Line of Control.

Abdullah spoke on sidelines of a function here in Srinagar in response to a question about Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's comments on the IWT.

Sharif had said that "every drop of water is our red line", and warned that Pakistan would give a "direct response" if its water supplies were threatened.


"These are our rivers...we have always been saying that our blood has been sucked. We had the first right on this. Pakistanis say they are great sympathisers of Kashmiris. But when it comes to water, their sympathy disappears. Where was their sympathy when we were denied permission to use our rivers?" Abdullah told reporters here.

He said that out of the six rivers, India kept three, which belonged to Punjab, and "our three rivers were handed over to Pakistan", and J&K has suffered since then.

The GoI kept the IWT in abeyance following the Pahalgam attack in April 2025. Abdullah has since supported the abeyance of IWT stating it was acutely against the interest of people of the J&K.

"From then until today, we are suffering the consequences of this Indus Waters Treaty. We could neither draw drinking water from the Chenab, nor could we use the Jhelum for navigation by building a barrage on Tulbul, nor could we stop water by building a big dam on any of our rivers," he said.

"Our blood has been sucked, and now that the Indus Waters Treaty has been cancelled, it should remain cancelled so that we can make proper use of this water," said Abdullah.

The J&K CM also stated that those responsible for security in J&K should not take the terror threats to Kashmiri Pandit workers in the Valley lightly. Some unknown outfits have recently issued threat letters against a group of Kashmiri Pandits working in the government in Kashmir.

"We have been hearing time and again that militancy has ended, that now one (terrorist) is left. But then this threat (comes), so where is this threat from? And those who are responsible for security arrangements, they should not take these threats lightly," Abdullah told reporters here.

The CM called for action against those behind the reported threats, and called for full security arrangements for the Kashmiri Pandits working in the valley.

"One or two years ago, targeted killings happened, particularly against the minority community. How many names should I take of those who were targeted? Even many employees were preparing to flee from here. They were kept in their camps after being almost arrested. Gates were locked," said Abdullah adding, "So, this threat should not be taken lightly. Action should be taken against the people behind this. And full security arrangements should be kept for these people."

Meanwhile J&K CM also condemned the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

"We strongly condemn this, and such attacks should not take place. Before this also, there was an attack in Amritsar, after which it was stated that special care would be taken of his security, that there will be Z-plus security. But where is the Z-plus? The attack took place for the second time, this time he was even injured, and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment," said Abdullah. He said such attacks should not happen in a democracy, and if there is any grievance against anyone, people can express that through elections. "Attacking is very dangerous for democracy," he added.