India Rejects Pakistan's Flood Accusations as Groundless and Misleading

India has firmly dismissed Pakistan's allegations that it is intentionally causing flooding in the country, labeling these claims as unfounded and misleading. The Ministry of External Affairs of India issued a statement asserting that the recent surge in water levels of the Chenab River is a direct consequence of significant monsoon rainfall that occurred over Jammu and surrounding catchment areas from July 20 to July 23. Officials emphasized that the rise in water flow is a natural response to heavy precipitation and is not a result of any upstream human actions. This response comes in light of Pakistan's assertions that India is manipulating water flows to create flooding downstream, which India categorically denies.

In its rebuttal, India referenced an advisory from Pakistan’s own Flood Forecasting Division in Lahore, which, on July 22, attributed the elevated flood levels in the Chenab River to the intense rainfall in the upper catchment areas. The advisory indicated that water levels at Marala were expected to remain elevated for some time before gradually decreasing as the rainfall subsided. India pointed out that these official assessments from Pakistan contradict the narratives being circulated in certain segments of the Pakistani media, which have sought to frame a naturally occurring flood event as a deliberate act of upstream intervention. India characterized such portrayals as factually incorrect and lacking technical validity.