‘Will respond with full spectrum of force’: Pakistan issues nuclear threat to India

Pakistan will respond with "full spectrum of force", including nuclear, if it is attacked or its vital water flow disrupted, Pakistan's ambassador here has warned amid tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Muhammad Khalid Jamali made the comments during an interview with Russia's state-run TASS news agency on Sunday.

Warning that Pakistan was prepared to respond to any aggression, the ambassador said, “We in Pakistan will use the full spectrum of force, both conventional and nuclear.”

Ties between India and Pakistan plummeted following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

Jamali reiterated Islamabad's position regarding the Indus Water Treaty, a key agreement between India and Pakistan, which New Delhi suspended last week as a part of its diplomatic response to the terror attack.

“Any attempt to usurp the water of the lower riparian, or to stop it, or to divert it would be an act of war against Pakistan and responded to with full force, including nuclear,” he said.

The envoy, however, urged de-escalation, noting the potential danger given that both countries possess nuclear weapons.

“As the two countries are two nuclear powers, there is all the more need to de-escalate the tensions,” he said.

Pakistan earlier called for “neutral and credible investigations” into the Kashmir attack. “I think the role of the international community comes in. And in this regard, we expect that powers like China and Russia can participate in those investigations,” Jamali said.