Pakistan Minister threatens India with nuclear retaliation over suspension of Indus Waters Treaty
New Delhi: Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s Minister Hanif Abbasi issued a provocative threat of nuclear retaliation, warning that the country’s nuclear arsenal is aimed directly at India. Abbasi’s remarks came after India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a decades-old water-sharing agreement, in response to the terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Abbasi claimed that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, which includes Ghori, Shaheen, and Ghaznavi missiles, is aimed at India, and emphasized that the country's 130 nuclear warheads are "not for show." He warned that India should be prepared for a "full-scale war" if it attempts to block water supplies from the Indus River. "Nobody knows where we have placed our nuclear weapons across the country," Abbasi stated. "All of them are targeted at you."
The controversial comments were made in the wake of India's decision to revoke Pakistani visas and suspend the Indus Waters Treaty as part of its response to the attack in Pahalgam. This move by India has drawn strong reactions from Pakistan, with Abbasi mocking India’s trade and water suspension policies, comparing them to Pakistan’s closure of airspace to Indian flights in the past, which caused significant disruption to Indian airlines.
In a related development, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif fueled further controversy with comments about Pakistan's historical support for militant groups. In a recent interview, Asif acknowledged that Pakistan had, for decades, supported militant organizations at the behest of Western powers. However, he denied current involvement with groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba or The Resistance Front, the group blamed for the Pahalgam attack, accusing India of "staging" the incident to stir regional tensions.
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SC to hear pleas challenging Waqf law provisions on May 20 for passing interim orders
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will take up on May 20 the issue of considering interim relief on pleas challenging validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for those challenging the validity of the law, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, to file their written notes by Monday.
“We will be considering the issue of interim relief only on Tuesday,” the CJI said while adjourning the hearing on the pleas.
The bench was told by the lawyers from both sides that the judges may need some more time to go through the pleadings.
In the meanwhile, the law officer said that in any case, there is a subsisting assurance of the Centre that no waqf properties, including those established by waqf by user, would be denotified.
Earlier, the law officer had also assured that no appointments to the Central Waqf Council or State Waqf Boards would be made under the new law.
The bench said it will not consider any plea seeking a stay of provisions of earlier 1995 Waqf law when the matters are taken up on May 20.
Former CJI Sanjiv Khanna, whose bench was hearing the matter, demitted office on May 13, and the matters were transferred to the bench headed by Justice Gavai.
On April 25, the central ministry of minority affairs filed a preliminary 1,332-page affidavit defending the amended Waqf Act of 2025 and opposed any "blanket stay" by the court on a "law having presumption of constitutionality passed by Parliament".
The Centre urged the top court to dismiss the pleas challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, pointing out a "mischievous false narrative" surrounding certain provisions.
The Centre notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 after it got President Droupadi Murmu's assent on April 5.
