Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Threatens War With India Over Indus Waters

In a June 21, 2026 ARY News interview, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said: 'The moment we feel that our national security, and water is part of our national security, is being threatened, we will go to war against India. Definitely.' The warning came amid escalating tension over India's suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, held in abeyance since the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, and was prompted in part by recent remarks from India's Jal Shakti (water resources) minister suggesting India could halt Indus water flows to Pakistan by June 2028. Asif's comments mark Pakistan's most explicit ministerial-level war threat since the May 2025 ceasefire and drew a sharp rebuke from India's Ministry of External Affairs two days later.