‘Indus Waters Treaty remains suspended’

NEW DELHI: In the face of heightened tensions after the Pahalgam terror attack, India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a development to which Pakistan responded with firm reactions. Ex-Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto cautioned that any move by India to divert water from rivers or construct dams would qualify as an act of war. The Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil retorted firmly, “The water is not going anywhere.”

Addressing the media, Patil stated, “I say one line — the water is not going anywhere. What Bilawal says, that’s his affair. He needs to play politics there, so let him utter what he wishes. He threatened once that if the water does not flow, blood will flow. We’ve heard all those cowardly threats, and we’re not terrified of them.” But some things are best said at the proper moment — and this moment is now.

Bilawal Bhutto has blamed India for unilaterally breaching international law by suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which was negotiated with World Bank facilitation. The treaty regulates the division of water from six rivers between India and Pakistan. Bhutto has said, “India has two options — either divide the water equitably or be ready to face us taking water from all six rivers.”

Home Minister Amit Shah has also reportedly indicated that the treaty may never be reactivated, threatening severe repercussions for Pakistan. Experts consider the IWT necessary to prevent India from restricting flow or changing the timing of water release, impacting Pakistan’s water supply severely. Pakistan’s economy is extensively reliant on the Indus River System. The western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — supply more than 80 percent of the nation’s irrigation, which feeds crops such as wheat, rice, cotton, and sugarcane. In the absence of this water, farm yields could fall drastically.

Also contributing are hydropower facilities like Tarbela, Mangla, and Neelum-Jhelum that depend on river flow.