Army Chief To Pak: 'Choose Geography Or History&#8217

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) New Delhi – In a stern military message to Islamabad, Army Chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday said if Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then they have to“decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not”.

At an interactive session hosted by 'Uniform Unveiled' at the Manekshaw Centre here, he was asked about how the Indian Army will respond if circumstances that led to Operation Sindoor last year come up again.

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The Army chief said,“If you had heard me earlier, what I have said... that Pakistan, if it continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then they have to decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not.”

His remarks at the event, 'Sena Samwad', came days after the country and the Indian military marked the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.

Gen. Dwivedi's remarks, though brief, carried a blunt message to Pakistan and reiterated India's stand against terrorism.

Operation Sindoor was launched early on May 7 last year in retaliation to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, with Indian forces conducting precision strikes on multiple terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

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Pakistan later also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.

The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, lasting nearly 88 hours, halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.

India Rejects CoA Award On Indus Waters Treaty Dispute

India on Saturday rejected the latest award issued by the Court of Arbitration (CoA) on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute with Pakistan, maintaining that the tribunal had been constituted“illegally” and New Delhi doesn't recognise its authority or jurisdiction.

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Responding to media queries, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India categorically rejects the award issued by the so-called Court of Arbitration on May 15 regarding matters linked to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

He said India has consistently opposed the establishment of the arbitral body and considers all proceedings and decisions issued by it as“null and void”.

“The illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration has issued what it termed an award concerning maximum pondage supplemental to the award on issues of general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty,” Jaiswal said, as per.

He added that India had never recognised the constitution of the tribunal and reiterated that the country's decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance would continue.

India had earlier announced that the treaty would remain in abeyance following the April 22, 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed.

Pertinently, the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 with the mediation of the World Bank, governs the sharing of waters of the Indus river system between the two countries. Under the agreement, the waters of the eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - were allocated to India, while Pakistan received rights over the western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - with certain usage provisions granted to India.

The current dispute relates to hydroelectric projects being developed by India on western rivers, including the Kishanganga and Ratle projects, which Pakistan has challenged under the treaty's dispute resolution mechanism.

India has maintained that disputes under the treaty should first be addressed through the mechanism of a Neutral Expert, as provided under the agreement, and has objected to parallel proceedings before the Court of Arbitration constituted under the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague.

New Delhi has argued that initiating arbitration proceedings without following the agreed dispute resolution sequence amounted to a violation of the treaty provisions.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration, headquartered in the Netherlands, facilitates arbitration and dispute resolution between states and international entities. India, however, has refused to participate in the proceedings related to the Indus Waters Treaty dispute.

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