LeT deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri threatens PM Modi, accuses India of ‘water terrorism’ amid Pakistan’s Indus Treaty rhetoric

ISLAMABAD: Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) deputy chief and Pahalgam attack mastermind Saifullah Kasuri has issued an open threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video message circulating on social media.

In the viral clip, Kasuri praises Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir, referring to him as “Field Marshal” and stating, “I request our supreme leader Field Marshal Asim Munir to teach a lesson to PM Modi like we did on May 10, 2025.”

Adding another layer to Pakistan’s ongoing anti-India rhetoric, the purported video, circulated widely across Pakistan-based social media channels, features Saifullah Kasuri asserting that he is acting “in the name of flood relief work,” while vowing retaliation for floods that recently struck several regions of Pakistan.

Kasuri, who operates under the close guidance of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed’s top aides has accused India of “doing water terrorism” and claimed that New Delhi intentionally triggered the flooding in Pakistan through “uncontrolled water release.”

His purported remarks surfaced just days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on September 26, raised the issue of the Indus Water Treaty, accusing India of defying its provisions and keeping the agreement in abeyance. The timing of Kasuri’s statement, echoing the same “water” narrative, exposes how Pakistan’s terror machinery and political leadership continue to push coordinated propaganda against India.

However, the Pakistan PM did not mention Islamabad’s effort to stop terrorism originating from its own borders, a key demand that India has put forward post-Pahalgam terror attack and its decision to put the treaty on abeyance over the issue of cross-border terrorism.

“India’s unilateral and illegal attempt to hold the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance defies the provisions of the treaty itself as well as the norms of International law. Pakistan has made it abundantly clear that we will defend the inseparable right of our people on these waters. To us, any violation of the treaty represents an act of war,” Shehbaz Sharif said during his address at the UN General Debate recently.

Even as Sharif raised the water issue on global platforms, Pakistan’s duplicity was evident when he chose to ignore the issue of terrorism and once again raked up the Kashmir narrative.

Pakistan’s PM also showed his true colours by not respecting the Indian borders as he raised the issue of Kashmir.

“I wish to assure Kashmiri people that I stand with them, Pakistan stands with them, and one day soon India’s tyranny in Kashmir will come to a halt,” he said.

India put the treaty on abeyance as one of the counter-measures against Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism efforts after 26 civilians were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 of this year.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in September 1960, brokered by the World Bank. It allocated control over the waters of the three eastern rivers Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej to India, and the three western rivers Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab to Pakistan.

The agreement has remained in force despite wars and tensions between the two countries. However, it has often been criticised within India as being unfair to India’s share of water rights.

India has accused Pakistan of manipulating the treaty process to deflect from its support of terrorism, labelling the arbitration a “desperate attempt” to avoid accountability. India exercised its sovereign right under international law to place the treaty in abeyance, linking its reinstatement to Pakistan’s verifiable cessation of cross-border terrorism support. (ANI)