Pak politician says IWT suspension 'water bomb', urges govt to 'defuse' it to avoid famine

Islamabad: Referring to India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam attack, a Pakistani opposition politician on Friday urged the government to "defuse" the "water bomb" to avoid famine in the country.

“Water scarcity is a war being imposed on us. Predictions about 21st-century wars being fought over water are proving true,” Senator Ali Zafar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party told the Senate.

“If we don’t solve our water issues, we may face famine. The Indus is our lifeline – it’s essentially a water bomb hanging over us that we must defuse,” he said.

A day after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22, India announced several punitive measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan has access to the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers, while India is entitled to use those from the eastern Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas rivers.

Waters from Indus, Jhelum and Chenab constitute about 80 per cent of drinking and irrigation supplies to Pakistan.

Zafar claimed IWT "explicitly bars India from stopping Pakistan’s water share. It cannot be unilaterally suspended – that would be a violation”.

Zafar, who is also a leading lawyer in Pakistan, said water is a fundamental human right of the lower riparian.

“If India wants to terminate the agreement, both countries must negotiate a new one. They (Indians) cannot simply nullify it – they would have to dismantle their dams first,” he said.

Zafar said that under international law, force can be used in self-defence if the water flow is stopped.

Pakistan has warned that any attempt to block Pakistan’s water through the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty would be treated as "an act of war".