Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that New Delhi will stop water from Indian rivers that had been flowing to Pakistan and give it to Indian farmers, reported Indian news publication The Hindu.
“This water belongs to farmers of Haryana, Rajasthan, and the country, and we will get it,” he said during an election rally at Charkhi Dagri in the Indian state of Haryana.
According to the Indian daily, Modi even said that work towards realisation of the project had started and added that he was committed towards it. "Modi will fight your battle," he was quoted as saying.
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"India will put to use its share of water from the rivers flowing to Pakistan and ensure that every single drop is used for country's farmer. The work on this had started," he said.
“For the last 70 years, the waters that belonged to India and farmers of Haryana were going to Pakistan. Modi will stop it and bring it to your households,” he said.
Taking a swipe at his opponents in Indian politics, Modi said that the Congress party could hurl abuse at him from all the different places in the world but should not back-stab the Hindu-majority country.
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Modi is already under severe international pressure after revoking the constitutional autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir on August 5 and imprisoning millions of people in the valley under a military curfew.
Thousands have been arrested across the occupied territory, and widespread allegations of torture and abuse of these detainees by Indian security forces have consistently poured in through international media.
"If Congress has the courage, it should announce that if it assumed power, the provisions granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir would be restored," Modi maintained in his election speech.