.jpeg)
Shashi Tharoor has responded to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's provocative remark that "blood will flow" in the wake of India suspending the Indus Water Treaty. "This is just inflammatory rhetoric. Pakistanis must understand they simply cannot kill Indians with impunity. We don't want to do anything to Pakistanis. But if they do something to us, then be prepared for a response. If blood is going to flow, it will flow possibly more on their side than ours," Tharoor stated.
Amid escalating tensions after the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, Tharoor said that the nation is demanding a military response against Pakistan. "After Uri, the government did a surgical strike across the border, and after Pulwama, there was the Balakot air strike. Today, I think we are going to see more than that. It is clear that while we have a range of options - diplomatic, economic, intelligence sharing, covert, and overt action. Some sort of visible military response is unavoidable," he said.
"The nation is demanding it and expecting it. No one knows what it will be, where it will be, or when it will be. But I am convinced there will be some response," Tharoor added.
Tharoor also criticised Pakistan's long-standing pattern of denying responsibility for terror attacks in India. "I think it's very clear that there is a pattern. People are encouraged, trained, armed, and often guided from across the border. Then Pakistan denies all responsibility. Eventually, responsibility is established and proven, including by foreign intelligence agencies," Tharoor said.
The terror attack in Pahalgam, often called 'Mini Switzerland', marked the deadliest incident in the region since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. It has since been linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
As relations between India and Pakistan continue to deteriorate, the two countries have taken retaliatory measures, including the cancellation of visas. Tensions along the Line of Control are also escalating, with Pakistan regularly violating the ceasefire. India has now ended the Indus Water Treaty, while Pakistan, accused of being a "global epicentre of terrorism," has suspended all bilateral agreements, including the 1972 Simla Accord.
