{"id":93490,"date":"2025-04-30T14:54:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T14:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/najam-sethi-warns-of-nuclear-response-if-india-blocks-pakistans-water-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T14:54:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T14:54:19","slug":"najam-sethi-warns-of-nuclear-response-if-india-blocks-pakistans-water-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/najam-sethi-warns-of-nuclear-response-if-india-blocks-pakistans-water-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Najam Sethi warns of nuclear response if India blocks Pakistan\u2019s water | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"flex items-center text-center\"><figcaption class=\"text-3 font-sans uppercase mr-3 whitespace-no-wrap\"><span class=\"ls-art\">Listen\u00a0to\u00a0article<\/span><\/figcaption><audio class=\"h-5 w-60 sm:w-80 rounded-none\" preload=\"metadata\" controlslist=\"noplaybackrate nodownload\" id=\"tts\" controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/attachments\/speech_20250430121106656-wxGGe.mp3\"\/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Prominent Pakistani journalist and political analyst Najam Sethi, in an interview with senior Indian journalist Karan Thapar, has explained Pakistan&#8217;s nuclear doctrine\u00a0stating that Islamabad&#8217;s\u00a0policy\u00a0is based on the belief that if the country were to face existential threat from India, it would be justified in launching a nuclear strike, accepting the ensuing consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Sethi emphasised that this stance is the primary reason why Pakistan has consistently refused to sign the no-first-use treaty.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Prominent Pakistani journalist and political analyst Najam Sethi has warned that if India attempts to block Pakistan\u2019s water supply or carries out acts of economic strangulation, Islamabad may resort to using nuclear weapons in self-defence.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">During the\u00a0televised interview, where the two senion journalists addressed escalating tensions between the two neighbours following the recent Pahalgam attack,\u00a0Sethi described India\u2019s allegations against Pakistan\u00a0as \u201cbaseless\u201d and labelled the incident a false flag operation.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He alleged that powerful elements within India\u2019s security and intelligence establishment or &#8220;the deep state&#8221;\u00a0was\u00a0likely involved.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThere are still no answers about the failure of Indian security forces and intelligence agencies in preventing the incident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He noted that Pakistani authorities have responded calmly and responsibly, without inflaming tensions or issuing unverified counterclaims. \u201cUnlike Indian media, which avoids asking tough questions of its leadership, Pakistani media and officials have maintained a restrained stance,\u201d Sethi said. \u201cIf there is any credible evidence, it must be presented to the international community, not simply broadcast domestically for political mileage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The former caretaker chief minister of Punjab added that public sentiment in Pakistan remains largely unfazed by the Indian allegations, with most people treating the claims as exaggerated or unserious.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">However, he emphasised that the Pakistani government views the situation seriously and is preparing for any eventuality.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Addressing questions over nuclear threats, Sethi said Pakistan\u2019s nuclear doctrine includes defensive use of weapons under existential threats. \u201cAs one of our former prime ministers said, we didn\u2019t build nuclear weapons to celebrate religious festivals,\u201d he remarked. \u201cIf India crosses a red line \u2013 by attempting to block water, invade Pakistani territory, or economically strangle Karachi \u2013 a nuclear response on our own soil cannot be ruled out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sethi also highlighted the regional dimensions of the crisis, stating that China, with its growing investments and strategic interests in Pakistan, is closely watching developments. \u201cThis is no longer just a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan,\u201d he said. \u201cChina\u2019s involvement, through both economic investment and military cooperation, means the consequences of any escalation could extend far beyond South Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He concluded by urging India to agree to an independent international investigation, possibly involving the United States or other global stakeholders, to resolve the matter transparently and avoid further instability.<\/p>\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m9wDTV_t0WQ\">\n<p><div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"Pakistan&#039;s Najam Sethi: On the Pahalgam Terror Attack and the India-Pakistan Clash It Has Provoked\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m9wDTV_t0WQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen\u00a0to\u00a0article Prominent Pakistani journalist and political analyst Najam Sethi, in an interview with senior Indian journalist Karan Thapar, has explained Pakistan&#8217;s nuclear doctrine\u00a0stating that Islamabad&#8217;s\u00a0policy\u00a0is based on the belief that if the country were to face existential threat from India, it would be justified in launching a nuclear strike, accepting the ensuing consequences. Sethi emphasised [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/mohaimin-shah-2025-04-30t171130-3111746015095-0\/mohaimin-shah-2025-04-30t171130-3111746015095-0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}