Indus Waters Treaty | Pakistan

FOR more than sixty-five years, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has stood as one of the world’s renowned, most enduring and successful transboundary water-course division arrangements between two nation states. Beyond its legal and international significance, it has also been the cornerstone of Pakistan’s water resources development. The certainty and predictability of flows provided by the treaty enabled Pakistan to develop the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS); the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system, comprising three major reservoirs, six barrages, twelve inter-river link canals and an extensive distribution network that irrigates nearly 35 million acres and supports more than 90 per cent of the country’s food production. Pakistan’s hydropower system, irrigated agriculture and much of its economic development have evolved on the foundation of uninterrupted and predictable flows from the western rivers. The treaty has also contributed significantly in the overall strategic stability of South Asia....

GILGIT: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday said Pakistan would not compromise on the Indus Waters Treaty, warning that the country was prepared to defend its water rights if necessary.

UNITED NATIONS: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take notice of India’s “brazen violations” of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that New Delhi’s actions threaten Pakistan’s water security, regional stability and international peace. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad delivered a letter from DPM Dar to the president of the UNSC, Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres of Colombia, drawing attention to India’s violations of the IWT. In a post on the social media platform X, the ambassador said the letter “draws urgent attention of the UNSC to two illegal Indian infrastructure projects linked to Chenab River system aimed at water diversion, which reveal India’s intention to illegally alter the treaty-governed flow and use of the Western rivers, weaponising water with dangerous implications for Pakistan’s water, food, and economic security as well as regional stability and international peace and security”. H...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has accused India of engaging in “water politics” by allegedly violating the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.

French newspaper Le Monde has described the growing dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty as a dangerous turning point for water security in South Asia, warning that tensions between India and Pakistan could have wider regional consequences.

• US consul general meets Senate chairman • Regional peace, economic ties discussed LAHORE: Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani has expressed concern over India’s unilateral actions regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), saying that “any attempt to use water as a tool of coercion undermines regional stability and threatens the livelihoods and food security of millions of Pakistanis”. He was speaking to United States Consul General Stetson Sanders, who called on him here on Saturday. Mr Gilani called upon the international community to support the restoration of treaty obligations and adherence to international law. Following the unilateral suspension of the IWT in April 2025, in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, India escalated dam construction and began heavily regulating water at existing facilities such as the Baglihar Dam, posing a threat to Pakistan’s water supply. Mr Gilani and Mr Sanders exchanged views on matters relating to Pakistan-US ties, trade and investment, besides regional peace and sec...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan on Thursday urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take up the dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that India’s continued unilateral suspension of the treaty carries “grave peace and security, and humanitarian consequences” for South Asia. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad handed over a letter from Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to the Security Council president, Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei of Bahrain. A statement issued by Pakistan’s Mission said the letter drew the UNSC’s attention to the matter “one year after India’s illegal decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance” and highlighted the move’s “grave peace and security, and humanitarian consequences”. The Security Council was urged “to take cognisance of the alarming situation and call upon India to restore the full implementation of IWT, resume all Treaty-mandated cooperation and data-sharing without delay, desist from any fo...

President Asif Ali Zardari on World Water Day called on India to restore full implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty, urging compliance with international obligations.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday called on India to immediately restore full implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in accordance with international obligations. In a message on World Water Day, President Zardari reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the unilateral suspension of the treaty by India. “This deliberate weaponisation of shared water resources is a matter of deep concern. India’s decision to place the treaty in abeyance, disrupt hydrological data-sharing, impede agreed mechanisms and undermines both the letter and spirit of a long-standing international agreement that has governed equitable sharing of the Indus river system for over six decades,” he said. “Such conduct threatens food and economic security, jeopardises the livelihoods of millions who depend on these waters and sets a dangerous precedent for the management of transboundary resources under international law,” he said. The IWT, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates the three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum a...

The Foreign Office (FO) issued a statement on Wednesday in response to clarifications issued by the Court of Arbitration on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), saying that Pakistan had taken note of the decision and calling the clarifications “helpful”. The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) had issued its Award on Issues of General Interpretation of the IWT on August 8. On September 19, Pakistan initiated an arbitration against India under the provisions of the IWT, which India suspended unilaterally following a four-day conflict between the two countries in May. The PCA on Saturday issued clarifications on its decisions surrounding the treaty in response to the request, which concerned the interpretation and application of the IWT to certain design elements of run-of-river hydroelectric plants (HEPs). The FO statement added that Pakistan had also taken note of the procedural order issued in parallel with the decision. In response to a Procedural Order also issued in light of the decision, in which the ...

Pakistan on Friday strongly condemned India’s unilateral and illegal suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), calling on the international community to prevent the “weaponisation” of shared natural resources.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday issued a strong condemnation of violations of the Indus Waters Treaty, urging the international community to take notice and intervene.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday raised the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) issue at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) summit in China and called for a “structural” dialogue on all outstanding disputes. PM Shehbaz arrived in China on Saturday to attend the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit held from August 31 to September 1. Besides Pakistan, the SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. Another 16 countries are affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”. “We respect all international and bilateral treaties and expect similar principles to be followed by all SCO members,” PM Shehbaz said at the summit today, in an apparent reference to fellow SCO member India and its unilateral move to hold the IWT in abeyance in April. “Uninterrupted access to due share of water as per existing treaties among SCO members will strengthen the SCO working smoothly and will support the achievement of broader goals for which the SCO was establis...

Federal Minister for Water Resources Muhammad Moeen Wattoo on Thursday criticised India for seeking to “run away” from the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after its foreign ministry rejected a Hague court ruling to follow the accord in designing new hydroelectric projects on rivers flowing to Pakistan. Under the 1960 IWT, three rivers that flow westwards were awarded to Pakistan, with India getting three eastern-flowing rivers. In 2023, Pakistan brought a case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague over the design of Indian hydropower projects on rivers that were awarded to Pakistan under the treaty. The court, in its ruling that was posted on its website on Monday, said it had jurisdiction over the dispute and ruled the treaty “does not permit India to generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers based on what might be the ideal or best practices approach for engineering” of these projects. Instead, the design of these projects must adhere “strictly” to the specifications laid down in the ...

Pakistan has welcomed the Court of Arbitration’s award on the general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty, calling it a validation of its longstanding position.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday appreciated the World Bank’s (WB) support for Pakistan’s position in light of India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). In April, India held the IWT in abeyance following the attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 — an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without evidence. Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share an “act of war”, noting that the IWT had no provision for unilateral suspension. In a meeting with the WB’s regional vice president for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP), Ousmane Dione, in Islamabad, the premier acknowledged the institution’s principled support for Pakistan’s legitimate position on India’s “unilateral and unlawful actions”, which undermined “important international agreements” such as the IWT. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to upholding international law, achieving prosperity, maintaining regional peace and reiterated the country’s resolve to resolve all issues throu...

Pakistan on Monday called on India to immediately restore the normal functioning of the Indus Waters Treaty and fulfill its obligations under the agreement.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday welcomed the Supplemental Award issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), calling it a significant legal and diplomatic victory for Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) has strongly condemned Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks refusing to reinstate the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), terming them a “brazen disregard” for international agreements and legal norms.

A high-profile seminar titled “Water Crisis and the Indus Waters Treaty” was held on Wednesday at the COMSTECH in response to India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), with an emphasis on pursuing all available diplomatic, legal, and multilateral channels to safeguard the country’s water.