ISLAMABAD: Former foreign minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, citing the world’s silence on Israeli aggression against neighbouring Iran, has warned that “if we don’t speak out for Iranians, there will be no one left when they come for us.”
“First, they came for the Palestinians, but the world did not speak out because they weren’t Palestinian. Then they came for the Lebanese, but we did not speak out because we were not Lebanese. And then they came for the Yemenis, but we did not speak out because we’re not from Yemen,” Bilawal said while speaking during a National Assembly session on Monday.
“Now, they’ve come for Iran. If we do not speak out, there will be no one left when they come for us. The Israeli regime’s aggression across the region must be stopped,” he added while warning that ever-expanding war being purported by Israel’s genocidal had the potential to “drag every towards World War III”.
The former FM’s remarks — a reference to Pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem First They Came — come against the backdrop of an exponential increase in the Middle East turmoil due to Israel’s attack on Iran — a situation further exacerbated by the US strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
The PPP chief has led Pakistan’s diplomatic offensive, which saw the high-level diplomatic delegation visiting the US and Europe, after last month’s armed conflict with India following New Delhi’s cross-border strikes after an attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam.
In retaliation, Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos and downed six IAF fighter jets, including three Rafales, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.
‘Pakistan will go to war’
Bilawal said Pakistan had achieved military, narrative, and diplomatic success against India through the blessings of Allah.
“A cheap copy of [Israeli PM] Netanyahu” exists in the region, he said, referring to India. “We defeated India on the battlefield, in diplomacy, and in the war of narratives,” he claimed.
The PPP chief added that his delegation had presented Pakistan’s stance and narrative internationally, and “wherever we went, the cheap copy’s team, followed.”
“We had already won the war,” Bilawal said, emphasising that Pakistan’s narrative — that regional instability is not in the interest of the people of either Pakistan or India — had found global traction.
“We raised the issue of Kashmir,” he said, adding that during the previous government’s tenure in 2019, India launched an attack on Kashmir, but the then prime minister responded by saying, “What do you expect me to do, go to war with India?”
He further stated that United States President Donald Trump had spoken in favour of mediation on Kashmir.
“India has now backed off from its claim that Kashmir is an internal matter,” the politician remarked, adding that there is growing global sympathy for the people of Kashmir. “We will continue our struggle and ensure justice is delivered to Kashmir”.
On water-related tensions, Bilawal declared: “India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is illegal. Threatening to block Pakistan’s water violates the UN Charter”.
He warned that if India acted on such threats, “Pakistan will be forced to fight another war”. He added that Pakistan’s air force had previously defeated India and would do so again if needed.
During his speech, opposition members created a ruckus in the National Assembly, prompting the speaker to bar them from speaking. Bilawal responded: “Mr speaker, please ignore them. The public already has”.
The ex-FM further said India — and its facilitators within Pakistan — had only two options: either respect the Indus Waters Treaty or face consequences.
“If India violates the treaty and diverts rivers or builds dams, Pakistan will go to war,” he warned. “We will secure the waters of all six rivers for our nation.”
Bilawal also asserted that India lost the narrative war on terrorism. “India tried to have Pakistan declared a terrorist state but failed,” he said. He also accused one political party in Pakistan of trying to sabotage the IMF programme.
“India also tried recently — and failed again,” he concluded.
PPP chief backs FY26 federal budget
Expanding on domestic politics, the PPP chairman said that he supported the federal government’s proposed Rs17.57 trillion budget for the Fiscal Year 2025-26.
“I support the federal government’s budget,” he said.
Noting that he wanted further increases in the salaries and pensions — as opposed to the proposed 10% and 7% hike in government employees’ salaries and pensions, respectively — Bilawal thanked PM Shehbaz Sharif, the finance minister and the foreign minister for engaging the PPP on the budget.
“It is a good move that the government has increased salaries and pensions [….] The PPP had [certain] desires that we could not achieve in the budget,” he said, adding that the party wanted South Punjab to be given 30% of the Public Sector Development Programmes (PSDP) funds.
“We [also] wanted the federal government to support Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa via federal funding,” he said citing the terrorism issue faced by both these provinces.
Expanding on the PPP’s standings in national politics, the politician remarked that although the party was not in the cabinet but was in fact the nation’s representative.
