After Asim Munir's nuclear rant, Bilawal Bhutto threatens Pakistan could 'take back six rivers' from India

A day after Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir’s reported nuclear threat, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached for water warfare rhetoric, warning that “yet another war may end up with Pakistan taking back all its six rivers from India.”

Addressing a gathering in Sindh, Bhutto accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s water projects on the Indus of being an “attack on our history, culture and civilization” and alleged that New Delhi was plotting to choke Pakistan’s lifeline, reported The Express Tribune.

The “six rivers” -- Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej -- were apportioned under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which India upheld even through wars, terror attacks, and decades of hostility.

Bhutto’s remarks echoed Pakistan’s military line. A day earlier, Munir, speaking to the diaspora in Tampa, Florida, had threatened to destroy Indian infrastructure if water flows were reduced and issued a nuclear warning: “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.”

Also Read: India slams Asim Munir's threat, calls Pak 'irresponsible' nuke state

Pakistan's nuclear sabre-rattling
New Delhi dismissed Munir’s posture as nuclear sabre-rattling -- Pakistan’s “stock-in-trade” -- and said such threats only deepen doubts about the integrity of its nuclear command, “especially in a state where the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups.” The Ministry of External Affairs said India would not yield to nuclear blackmail and would take all measures to safeguard national security.

Government sources said Munir’s bluster followed a familiar script: whenever Pakistan’s military gets international attention, it turns to aggressive threats to divert focus from domestic instability and the weakening of civilian rule. “Emboldened by the reception in the US, the next step could possibly be a silent or open coup so that the Field Marshal becomes the President,” one source said.

Munir's anti-India rhetoric
Munir reiterated his anti-India rhetoric, calling Kashmir the “jugular vein” of Pakistan and vowing to defend the country’s water rights “at all costs.” Speaking to the Pakistani diaspora in Tampa, Florida, he warned that Islamabad would destroy any Indian dam cutting water flow to Pakistan and claimed the Indus River was not “the Indians’ family property.”

Munir also claimed Pakistan responded “resolutely and forcefully” in past conflicts with India and insisted that Kashmir remains an “incomplete international agenda.”

Pakistan-US ties
His visit to the US -- his second in less than two months -- included high-level meetings with American political and military leaders, attendance at the US CENTCOM change-of-command ceremony, and interactions with defence chiefs from “friendly nations.” He highlighted what he called a new, positive phase in Pakistan-US ties, with potential trade and investment agreements.

The Pakistani military said Munir’s engagements aimed to strengthen bilateral relations and encourage overseas Pakistanis to contribute to national development.

In June, Munir made a rare five-day trip to the US, where he attended a private luncheon with Donald Trump -- an honour usually reserved for heads of state -- which reportedly resulted in promises of enhanced cooperation, including an oil deal. New Delhi, however, has maintained that any pause in military hostilities with Pakistan came through direct talks between the two countries, not foreign mediation.