India on Tuesday strongly rejected Pakistan’s attempts to invoke the shared legacy of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). In a press briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that a country that has promoted cross-border terrorism, religious fundamentalism and violence for decades, particularly against minorities, cannot lay claim to a pluralistic cultural heritage.
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These remarks from the MEA spokesperson came in response to a question regarding Islamabad’s recent references to the Indus Valley Civilization.
“Let me put this straight – a country which has been promoting cross-border terrorism, which has been promoting religious fundamentalism and violence for decades, cannot have any claim to any pluralistic cultural legacy. Their abysmal track record on the protection of minorities and their cultural rights makes such desperate attempts look even more phoney,” Jaiswal said.
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“When we identify ourselves as Pakistanis, we ask a question as to who we are. And if you go back into history, the Indus Water Civilization defines us as a people. Whenever I go abroad, I often tell my counterparts that we are the people of the Indus Valley Civilization. Our identification is that we are people based on the banks and tributaries of the mighty River Indus,” Tarar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
These remarks came as an attempt to claim the waters of the Indus river system under the Indus Water Treaty, which was suspended in 2025 after the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pak claims IVS central to national identity
Pakistani Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar recently described the Indus Valley Civilization as central to Pakistan’s national identity.
