Indus Water Treaty will remain in abeyance, no talks till Pakistan renounces cross-border terror: MEA

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addresses a press briefing in New Delhi. File | Photo Credit: ANI

Any engagement with Pakistan will have to be “bilateral”, but India will not engage with its neighbour on issues such as trade, the Indus Waters Treaty, or Jammu and Kashmir as long as Pakistan continues to support cross-border terrorism against India, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday (May 29, 2025).

“We are clear that talks and terror don’t go together. On terrorism itself we are open to discussing the handing over to India of noted terrorists whose list was given to Pakistan some years ago. I would like to underline that any bilateral discussion on Jammu and Kashmir will only be on the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan, and the Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures cross-border terrorism,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a weekly press briefing.

“You are well aware of our position that any India-Pakistan engagement has to be bilateral,” Mr. Jaiswal said, emphasising the established modality of interaction between the two sides. Against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, during which India bombed multiple Pakistani locations linked to proscribed terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, officials have pointed out that the two sides have maintained diplomatic missions in each other’s capitals, discounting the space for third-party mediation.

Contrasting positions

The MEA’s remarks came in the context of a rally in Lahore addressed by several wanted terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, including Talha Saeed and Muzammil Hashmi. A video clip from the rally that has gone viral shows Mr. Hashmi threatening India with more cross-border terror attacks.

The rally stands in stark contrast to the multi-nation diplomacy that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has carried out over the past week, visiting Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran, and offering to hold talks with India on multiple issues, including Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty.

In response, Mr. Jaiswal said that India’s policy on Pakistan has been “clear and consistent”. He referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks, saying, “Terror and talks cannot go together. Terror and trade cannot go together and water and blood cannot flow together.”

Published - May 29, 2025 10:27 pm IST