New Delhi [India], April 25 (ANI): Former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Veena Sikr on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Sikri described the attack on innocent tourists as 'terrible and inhuman.'

Sikri praised the government's resolve to counter terrorism, saying that attempts to revive terrorism in Kashmir will not be accepted.

Speaking about the terrorist attack, Sikri said, 'The attack on the innocent tourists in Pahalgam was a terrible, inhuman, dastardly, cruel attack. This attempt to revive terrorism in Kashmir will not be accepted, neither by the people of Jammu and Kashmir, India nor anybody.'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his deep sorrow over the brutal killing of innocent civilians by terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, while addressing a gathering in Madhubani on Thursday.

'The terrorists responsible for this attack, along with those who conspired it, will face punishment beyond their imagination', the Prime Minister said, asserting that the time has come to eliminate the remaining strongholds of terrorism. 'The willpower of 140 crore Indians will now break the backbone of the perpetrators of terror,' the PM stressed.

Sikri also highlighted the steps announced by the government after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting, emphasizing that these decisions demonstrate the government's commitment to tackling terrorism.

'The decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty is very important because the suspension of this treaty has been discussed for the last 15 years and every time there was a terrorist attack, this was considered as an option but not acted upon... But we must recognise that the IWT concluded in 1960 is a very unequal treaty from the beginning.'

'IWT is for the benefit of the people of J-K, and they have not been getting it, and Pakistan objects to them getting any benefit at all'.

'Correct decision to suspend the treaty and take everything in our own hands', Sikri told ANI.

Following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Ministry of External Affairs announced a series of strong measures in response, including the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty 'with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irreversibly abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.'

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960, following nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan, with the assistance of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. Former World Bank President Eugene Black initiated the talks. Recognised as one of the most successful international treaties, it has endured frequent tensions, including conflict, and has provided a framework for irrigation and hydropower development for over half a century. Former US President Dwight Eisenhower described it as 'one bright spot ... in a very depressing world picture that we see so often.'

The Treaty allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. At the same time, the Treaty allows each country certain uses of the rivers allocated to the other. The treaty gives India 20 per cent of the water from the Indus River System and the rest 80 per cent to Pakistan.

The Indus Waters Treaty was in the spotlight in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack in 2019.

The treaty has been criticised for being too generous to Pakistan, even when it has continued to promote terror in India. Then Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari declared that water from the eastern rivers, which used to flow downstream to Pakistan earlier, would be diverted to Jammu and Kashmir and the Punjab region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the Uri terror attack in 2016, had said that blood and water can't flow together. 'Rakt aur paani ek saath nahin beh sakta' (blood and water cannot flow together).'

The heinous Pahalgam terrorist attack, which occurred on Tuesday in the Baisaran meadow of Anantnag district, has drawn condemnation from across the world.

The brutal incident turned a peaceful tourist destination into a scene of devastation, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, and injuring several others.

In response to the attack, India convened a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. The government resolved to hold the perpetrators and their sponsors accountable and announced several retaliatory measures.

These included suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, closing the Integrated Check Post at Attari, cancelling Pakistani SAARC visa exemptions, and reducing diplomatic staff in both countries' missions. (ANI)