ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday India was pursuing a series of water infrastructure projects that could alter the Indus river system and undermine a decades-old water-sharing treaty between the nuclear-armed neighbors, urging the international community to defend treaty-based management of shared resources.
Speaking virtually at a conference on transboundary water governance in Brussels, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said India had moved beyond rhetoric and was taking actions that threatened the framework established under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which governs the distribution of waters from the Indus river system between the two countries.
His remarks came amid heightened tensions over the treaty after India said it was holding the agreement “in abeyance” as the two countries had a brief but intense military confrontation last year. Islamabad warned New Delhi any attempt to block or divert waters guaranteed under the treaty would be considered an act of war.
“It is important to underscore that our concerns are not merely based on Indian statements,” Dar told the conference. “India has followed up its belligerent statements with illegal actions.”
He noted that India was pursuing reservoir, expansion and diversion projects on rivers covered by the treaty, adding there were at least 17 projects that could significantly alter the river system and give New Delhi the tools for “hydro hegemony.”
“The stated policy of our eastern neighbor to intentionally deprive 240 million people of their rightful access to water represents a catastrophe in the making of unparalleled magnitude,” he said.
Dar said Pakistan had historically sought resolution of disputes through mechanisms provided under the treaty and international law, arguing that both sides had previously remained within established legal frameworks despite disagreements.
He argued that the issue extended beyond South Asia and touched on the credibility of international agreements more broadly.
“Water must never be viewed as an instrument of coercion,” he said. “It is a shared resource, a common responsibility and ultimately a prerequisite for human dignity and sustainable development.”
The deputy prime minister pointed to European cooperation on shared waterways as an example of how transboundary resources could be managed peacefully through binding agreements.
“Europe itself offers compelling examples of how the faithful implementation of trans-border water agreements has enabled states to share water resources cooperatively and to promote regional stability and prosperity,” he said.
Dar said Pakistan remained committed to resolving disputes through dialogue, diplomacy and international legal mechanisms, but stressed that respect for treaty obligations was essential to preserving regional stability.
“The sanctity of treaties is the bedrock of the international order,” he said. “Respect for treaty obligations is therefore not merely a regional concern but a global imperative.”
