Hundreds of Pakistanis rallied across the country on Thursday, including in Azad Kashmir, to protest against India’s threats of retaliation following a deadly attack on civilians in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Tuesday. The demonstrations came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to “pursue and punish” the perpetrators of Tuesday’s assault in Pahalgam, which killed 26 civilians and was the deadliest such attack in the disputed region in over two decades. Modi accused Pakistan of supporting what he described as “cross-border terrorism.” “If India wants to go to war, then come forward openly,” said Ajmal Baloch, a protester in Lahore, near the main Wagah border crossing, where some 700 people gathered in a rally organised by a religious political party. The protests were sparked in part by India’s announcement to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, an agreement critical for managing shared rivers between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. “Water is our right and, God willing, we will reclaim it, even if that means through war,” said 25-year-old protester Muhammad Owais in Lahore. “We will not back down.” In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, around 300 demonstrators marched with placards bearing anti-India slogans. “If India makes the mistake of attacking, the Pakistani Kashmiris will fight on the frontline,” said Shoukat Javed Mir, a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party in the region. “We’re ready to die for Pakistan.” In Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, approximately 150 people joined a protest to denounce India’s rhetoric and express solidarity with Kashmiris.