In remarks to the local Geo News channel, Asif commented on the escalating tensions with India following the recent attack that killed 26 people in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, stressing that Pakistan considers any Indian interference in the river's waters a "serious aggression."
The minister explained that the aggression is not limited to the use of weapons, but also includes control of water, noting that such actions could lead to famine, thirst, and death in Pakistan.
"If India tries to build any facility on the Indus River, Pakistan will destroy it," Asif said.
These statements come amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, amid fears that the water crisis could lead to a new confrontation between them in a region already suffering from water scarcity.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated on April 22, after gunmen opened fire on tourists in the Pahalgam area of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people and wounding others. Indian officials said the attackers "came from Pakistan," while Islamabad accused India of waging a disinformation campaign against it.
India decided to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, which divides the waters of the Indian subcontinent, following the attack and demanded that Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi leave the country within a week.
Pakistan denied India's accusations, restricted the number of Indian diplomatic personnel in Islamabad, declared that it would consider any interference with rivers outside the Indus Waters Treaty an "act of war," suspended all trade with India, and closed its airspace to India.
