ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad warned the international community this week that any unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by India carries with it humanitarian, peace and security implications.

India last year announced it was holding the IWT, mediated by the World Bank in 1960, “in abeyance” amid increasing political tensions with Islamabad. The IWT divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

It grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin’s western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.

Speaking at the “Arria Formula Meeting of the Security Council on Upholding the Sanctity of Treaties for the Maintenance of International Peace and Security” on Saturday, Ahmad noted the IWT was regarded as one of the most resilient water-sharing treaties that had stood the test of time, crises and political tensions. 

“Any unilateral disruption to established water-sharing arrangements carries humanitarian, environmental, and peace-and-security implications, particularly for downstream 240 million people of Pakistan,” he said. 

“When the lifelines of millions are placed under unilateral discretion, the risks are not hypothetical — they are real and immediate.”

The Pakistani envoy reiterated that the treaty was not a “bilateral concern” but a test case for the international system. He said if a treaty designed to prevent disputes or conflicts is disregarded unilaterally, “then no agreement is truly insulated from politics or all kinds of machinations.” 

“Borders, demilitarized zones, trade corridors, and humanitarian arrangements all become more fragile,” Ahmad noted. 

He underscored that the UN and the Security Council have a vital role to play, which includes the prevention of unilateral suspensions and enforcement of treaties. 

“Compliance with treaties must therefore be regarded as a strategic imperative for conflict prevention and resolution,” he said. 

Pakistan has warned India that it will not let New Delhi stop or divert the flow of its rivers. Islamabad said last year it would consider any move on India’s behalf to hinder the flow of its waters as “an act of war.”

The two countries engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades in May last year after India blamed Pakistan for being involved in a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. Islamabad denied it was involved and called for a credible probe into the incident. 

India and Pakistan pounded each other with missiles, drones, jets and exchanged artillery fire for four days before Washington brokered a ceasefire on May 10.