The Senate on Friday unanimously passed a resolution against India’s attempt to link Pakistan to the deadly attack in India-held Kashmir earlier this week.
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in India-occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others.
During a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) in Islamabad a day earlier, the committee called on India to “refrain from its reflexive blame game and cynical, staged managed exploitation of incidents like Pahalgam to further its narrow political agenda”.
The resolution, moved by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, stated that Pakistan remains fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression including water terrorism or military provocation.
The Senate emphasised that the killing of innocent civilians is contrary to the values upheld by Pakistan, according to the resolution.
It also “rejects all frivolous and baseless attempts to link Pakistan with the Pahalgam Attack of 22nd April 2025 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.
The Senate further condemned “the orchestrated and mala fide campaign by the Indian government to malign Pakistan, which follows a familiar pattern of exploiting the issue of terrorism for a narrow political goal”.
It also condemned “India’s unlawful and unilateral declaration to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance in blatant violation of the Treaty which clearly amounts to an act of war”.
On Wednesday, New Delhi unleashed a slew of aggressive measures against the Pakistan following the attack.
Among India’s actions was the unilateral move to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which was brokered by the World Bank and has endured through wars and decades of hostility.
India also shut its borders and downgraded diplomatic ties, in addition to suspending the Indus Waters Treaty over what the BJP government and media claimed — without offering any evidence — was Islamabad’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism.
In its resolution, the Senate warned that Pakistan “remains fully capable and prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression, including water terrorism or military provocation as clearly demonstrated by its robust and valiant response to India’s reckless actions in February 2019; and any misadventure by India will be met with a firm, swift and decisive response”.
“[The Senate] emphasises that the people of Pakistan remain committed to peace, but will never allow anyone to transgress the country’s sovereignty, security, and interests.”
It demanded that India be held accountable “for its involvement in different acts of terrorism and targeted assassinations on the soil of other countries, including Pakistan.”
The resolution concluded by saying the Senate reaffirms Pakistan’s “unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support for and commitment to the Kashmiri people’s just struggle for realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination.”
While presenting the resolution in the Senate today, Dar said: “If anyone is thinking of adventurism in Pakistan, our armed forces are fully ready.
“If anyone tries to resort to any hostility towards us we will answer them like we have done in the past,” the senator said.
“India should not make this mistake as it will [disrupt] regional peace and stability, growth and development, and poverty alleviation,” he said on the floor of the lower house.
Senator Sherry Rehman also spoke during today’s Senate hearing.
“I have said in this house before that it was Modi’s wish in his first term to weaponise water and engage in water terrorism,” said Rehman, a former climate change minister.
“The treaty that has survived every war and remained untouched throughout every war; but now they want to weaponise this and we won’t allow it.”
She highlighted that peace is the best option for everyone saying, “we are not in the era of World War II, but if that’s what they want to revive, no one will step back.
“We won’t still beg them to talk about peace, because we have done so enough times previously,” she said to much applause from fellow senators.
“We are one Pakistan, we are a united Pakistan, and no one will bring us to a war without decisive, firm, speedy and very clear action.”
Rehman pointed out that if a serving military officer was caught spying in India, there would have been commotion and chaos from India.
“You tested it out [after] Pulwama. Had Pakistan’s tea. We still have water. We will mix it with milk and serve you tea,” she said in a light-hearted reference to captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman praising the Pakistan Army in a video while holding a cup of tea.
Rehman, however, warned India to remember that PPP founder and former prime minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made Pakistan a nuclear nation before it engaged in “any more misadventure and theatricals.
“We did not militarise this region did, you did. Even today, your military formations stand against Pakistan. The majority of your military formations are against Pakistan,” she said.
“You have an obsession with Pakistan. We certainly do not have any obsession with you,” Rehman said to applause.
“We say that we are peaceful. Even right now, instead of de-escalating, you are taking irresponsible actions. You are putting your people at risk.
“These are two nuclear nations, with no risk reduction measures left. Do you want to go to war? This is an act of war. Pakistan does not like to go to war.
“But when we do, when we are provoked, we will not be losing anything to them. I am very clear,” she said.
Disclaimer: This article, originally published by Dawn, is republished here on South Asia Times with full credit to the original source. Views and opinions expressed in the article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of South Asia Times.
