There are some phrases in history that are not just lines—they are lodestars. When the Prime Minister of India solemnly declared that “blood and water cannot flow together,” it was not rhetoric. It was a doctrine. A warning. A declaration of principle born from decades of betrayal and bleeding borders.
For me, this isn't theoretical. It’s personal. Exactly thirty years ago, as a young intern working for a U.S. Congressman in Washington D.C., I was asked to collect signatures from members of Congress—Republican and Democrat alike—on a letter urging the White House to designate Pakistan a terrorist state.
Even then, in 1995, the evidence was already overwhelming. The brutalities in Kashmir, the harbouring of terrorist groups, and the military’s double games were well known in the corridors of Capitol Hill. What surprised me wasn’t the content of the letter—it was how many Senators and Congressmen quietly agreed. Off the record, they all knew. On the record, they were cautious. The White House and State Department under President Clinton refused the Congressional lobbying. That caution cost thousands more lives.
And yet, here we are. Thirty years on. The faces have changed in Washington and Islamabad, but the game remains the same. Pakistan still plays the victim while nurturing the venomous infrastructure of terror. The strategy is as old as it is cynical: export jihad while demanding global sympathy. And once again, India is left to bury its dead.
That is why the words of Prime Minister Modi strike with such moral clarity. India’s restraint should never be mistaken for weakness. Our rivers may be sacred, but they cannot be vessels of poison. The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in good faith, now flows uneasily in the shadow of innocent blood.
As President of the India League, I add my voice—and that of our entire community—to this line in the sand. The world must finally understand that security and stability in South Asia will never be possible as long as state-sponsored terrorism is tolerated under the diplomatic fig leaf of sovereignty.
The international community cannot continue its policy of strategic ambiguity. It is a failure of both intellect and ethics to pretend Pakistan is a passive actor when its intelligence services incubate terror with the consistency of a state-run business. China provided satellite imagery to Pakistan. Did the West move as quickly for India?
India has built global partnerships in science, trade, defence, and diplomacy. It has invested in peace. But peace is not pacifism. The world must now stand with those who bleed—not with those who bankroll the butchers.
In 1995, I knocked on doors to sound the alarm for my Congressman. In 2025, the alarm is deafening. This time, let’s not wait another thirty years.