ISLAMABAD: A 17-member delegation from the National Defense University (NDU) of Pakistan met with High Commissioner Maj. Gen. (R) Dr. Shahid Ahmad Hashmat in Colombo as part of a visit which is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, a statement released on Tuesday read.
The group, led by Air Commodore Mustafa Anwer, is in Sri Lanka for a six-day visit and comprises senior officials from Pakistan’s Armed Forces and allied officers from Iran, Bangladesh and Nepal, who are undergoing a National Security and War Course at the NDU.
The visit is part of measures to improve bilateral cooperation and discuss ways to strengthen the collaboration between the two countries in the field of defense, an Embassy official said.
“High Commissioner underscored that relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka are based on mutual trust and the commonality of interest in maintaining peace, security and stability in the South Asian region,” excerpts from the statement read, adding that both the countries “are working together on all these foras for shared values and interests.”
During the visit, NDU delegates are expected to meet with a number of prominent personalities from Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces and civil institutions.
The NDU delegation will also visit the Lakshman Kadirgamer Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies in Colombo and the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka for an interactive session to build cooperation between the two institutions.
Both the South Asian nations have always shared friendly relations. In the past, Pakistan supplied high-tech military equipment to the Sri Lankan army for use in its civil war against the Tamil Tigers.
Additionally, trade between Sri Lanka and Pakistan stands at less than $400 million a year, with Pakistan saying in 2016 that it would re-invigorate efforts to reach a target of $1 billion “at the earliest.”
Delegation from Pakistan’s National Defence University visits Sri Lanka
Delegation from Pakistan’s National Defence University visits Sri Lanka
- Representatives are expected to hold talks with senior officials in Colombo
- Move part of efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two nations
Pakistan urges world to treat water insecurity as global risk, flags India treaty suspension
- Pakistan says it is strengthening water management but national action alone is insufficient
- India unilaterally suspended Indus Waters Treaty last year, leading to irregular river flows
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday urged the international community to recognize water insecurity as a “systemic global risk,” warning that disruptions in shared river basins threaten food security, livelihoods and regional stability, as it criticized India’s handling of transboundary water flows.
The call comes amid heightened tensions after India’s unilateral decision last year to hold the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty “in abeyance,” a move Islamabad says has undermined predictability in river flows and compounded climate-driven vulnerabilities downstream.
“Across regions, water insecurity has become a systemic risk, affecting food production, energy systems, public health, livelihoods and human security,” Pakistan’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, told a UN policy roundtable on global water stress.
“For Pakistan, this is a lived reality,” he said, describing the country as a climate-vulnerable, lower-riparian state facing floods, droughts, accelerated glacier melt, groundwater depletion and rapid population growth, all of which are placing strain on already stressed water systems.
Jadoon said Pakistan was strengthening water resilience through integrated planning, flood protection, irrigation rehabilitation, groundwater replenishment and ecosystem restoration, including initiatives such as Living Indus and Recharge Pakistan, but warned that domestic measures alone were insufficient.
He noted the Indus River Basin sustains one of the world’s largest contiguous irrigation systems, provides more than 80 percent of Pakistan’s agricultural water needs and supports the livelihoods of over 240 million people.
The Pakistani diplomat said the Indus Waters Treaty had for decades provided a framework for equitable water management, but India’s decision to suspend its operation, followed by unannounced flow disruptions and the withholding of hydrological data, had created an unprecedented challenge for Pakistan’s water security.
Pakistan has said the treaty remains legally binding and does not permit unilateral suspension or modification.
The issue has gained urgency as Pakistan continues to recover from last year’s monsoon floods, which killed more than 1,000 people and devastated farmland in Punjab, the country’s eastern breadbasket, in what officials described as severe riverine flooding.
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had observed abrupt variations in river flows from India, creating uncertainty for farmers in Punjab during critical periods of the agricultural cycle.
“As we move toward the 2026 UN Water Conference, Pakistan believes the process must acknowledge water insecurity as a systemic global risk, place cooperation and respect for international water law at the center of shared water governance, and ensure that commitments translate into real protection for vulnerable downstream communities,” Jadoon said.
