India warns Pakistan of 'painful consequences' in case of any 'misadventure'
New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI): India on Thursday warned Pakistan of "painful consequences" to "any misadventure" targeting it and advised the neighbouring country to desist from "war-mongering" and "hateful" rhetoric.
New Delhi's strong reaction came in response to Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir's nuclear threat as well as offensive comments against India by several Pakistani leaders including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
"We have seen reports regarding a continuing pattern of reckless, war-mongering and hateful comments from Pakistani leadership against India," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
"It is well known modus-operandi of the Pakistani leadership to whip up anti-India rhetoric time and again to hide their own failures.
"Pakistan would be well-advised to temper its rhetoric as any misadventure will have painful consequences as was demonstrated recently," Jaiswal said in an indirect reference to India's Operation Sindoor.
In an address to Pakistani diaspora in Florida's Tampa last week, Munir reportedly said that Pakistan could use its nuclear weapons to take down India and "half the world" in case his country faced an existential threat in a future war with India.
The Pakistani Army chief also warned that Islamabad would destroy Indian infrastructure if they hit water flow to Pakistan.
In response to Munir's remarks, India on Monday said his threat reinforced the well-held doubts about the integrity of nuclear command and control in that country where the military is "hand-in-glove" with terrorist groups.
New Delhi once again made it clear that it will not give in to any nuclear blackmail.
The civilian leadership of Pakistan too has been upping the ante against India in the last few days.
In his remarks at an event in Islamabad early this week, Sharif vowed to teach India "a lesson" if it tried to control the flow of water of cross-border rivers.
"I want to tell the enemy today that if you threaten to stop our water, then keep this in mind that you cannot snatch even one drop from Pakistan," he had said.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
Jaiswal also trashed a ruling this week by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on cross-border rivers between the two countries.
In the ruling, the Court of Arbitration said India should allow flow of the waters of the western rivers under the Indus Waters Treaty for Pakistan's unrestricted use.
"India has never accepted the legality, legitimacy or competence of the so-called Court of Arbitration. Its pronouncements are therefore without jurisdiction, devoid of legal standing, and have no bearing on India's rights of utilisation of waters," Jaiswal said.
"India also categorically rejects Pakistan's selective and misleading references to the so-called 'award'," he said.
The spokesperson also referred to a statement issued by India on June 27 that said the Indus Waters Treaty "stands in abeyance".
"The Indus Waters Treaty stands in abeyance by a sovereign decision of the Government of India, taken in response to Pakistan's continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism, including the barbaric Pahalgam attack," he said.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
