ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced this week that Islamabad was formulating a comprehensive national policy to counter India’s move to suspend a decades-old water-sharing treaty with Pakistan, stressing that it aims to safeguard the country’s water resources.
India announced its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between the two countries in 1960, after Delhi blamed Islamabad for being involved in an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people on April 22.
Islamabad denied involvement in the incident.
Pakistan has warned Delhi’s move to suspend the treaty that guarantees water access for 80 percent of Pakistan’s farms, can trigger a nuclear war between the two countries.
“Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal says a comprehensive national policy is being formulated in consultation with all four provinces to counter Indian water aggression,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
Iqbal said the policy aims to safeguard Pakistan’s water resources in the face of ongoing regional challenges, referring to India’s move to hold the treaty in abeyance.
“The minister announced to establish a special technical committee comprising water experts and engineers to provide technically sound recommendations to address water disputes and related challenges,” the report said.
TREATY’S HISTORY
The Indus Waters Treaty took effect on April 1, 1960, and was officially signed on September 19, 1960, in Karachi by Pakistan’s then President Ayub Khan and India’s then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
As per the treaty, Pakistan has rights to the western rivers— Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab— for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower. 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. Experts, like Hassaan F. Khan from Tufts University, argue that India lacks the infrastructure to divert large amounts of Indus waters.
The treaty also created a permanent Indus Commission and a dispute resolution framework, and despite wars and decades of tensions between Pakistan and India, it remains one of the world’s most resilient water-sharing agreements.
There is no provision in the treaty for either country to unilaterally suspend or terminate the pact, which has clear dispute resolution systems.
The April 22 attack triggered a days-long conflict between India and Pakistan in early May, raising fears of a nuclear war before US President Donald Trump intervened and brokered a ceasefire on May 10.
The conflict killed over 70 people on both sides of the border, with both countries claiming victory over the other. Pakistan and India both dispatched delegations to world capitals in June to defend their stances regarding the conflict.
India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars in the past seven decades over the disputed Himalayan Kashmir territory. Both sides claim the valley in full but administer only parts of it.
