 "Is Pakistan parched? Why Islamabad is urging India to discuss Indus Waters Treaty suspension")
“The Indus is ours and will remain ours — either our water will flow through it, or their blood.”
“If it (the Indus Waters Treaty) is not reversed, then this will amount to an act of war.”
When India initially placed the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance with “immediate effect” following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, Pakistani leaders had issued stern warning and threats to New Delhi.
Now, almost three weeks after the attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor , Pakistan has changed its tune, writing a letter in which it has urged New Delhi to reconsider the decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty into abeyance.
Reports state that Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources has written to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, saying that New Delhi’s move to halt the treaty could create a crisis in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Indus Waters ‘appeal’ to India
Multiple reports state that Pakistan’s Water Resources Secretary, Syed Ali Murtaza, wrote a letter to India , appealing New Delhi to reconsider its decision, saying that millions of people depend on the water regulated by the 1960 treaty.
The letter to New Delhi comes after the treaty was put in abeyance based on a decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack which killed 26. “We will not give them a single drop of water, come what may,” said Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil. India had also announced that it will stop sharing flood warnings with Pakistan.
This was once again echoed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 when he addressed the nation. He then said, “Terror and talk cannot take place together. Terror and trade cannot take place together. And, water and blood also cannot flow together.”
Murtaza, in his letter, expressed Pakistan’s willingness to discuss the Indus Waters Treaty. However, he did question the basis of the decision, pointing out that the treaty itself did not have any exit clause. “We have responded to the Indian letters by conveying that the treaty remains fully in force and is binding on the parties. There is no provision in the treaty to hold it in abeyance. The Indus Waters Treaty has been successful water sharing arrangement between the two neighbouring countries. The treaty has withstood tests of wars and standoffs…,” said Pakistan in the letter, according to sources in a News18 report.
According to a Times of India report, the letter is likely to have been delivered during Operation Sindoor.
The timing of Pakistan’s appeal is significant; India’s two prior notices — in January 2023 and again in September 2024 — requesting a “review and modification” of the IWT went unanswered from Islamabad. However, following the abeyance and Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has shown some willingness on the issue.
India’s suspension of Indus Waters Treaty
The letter from Pakistan comes after India paused the Indus Waters Treaty a day after the Pahalgam terror attack. It was one of the many punitive measures New Delhi took against Islamabad for its continued support to terrorists on its soil.
This was a significant move as the Indus Waters Treaty , signed in 1960, has endured tenuous ties between the two countries.
According to the treaty, all the water of the “Eastern Rivers” of the Indus system — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — shall be available for the “unrestricted use” of India. Pakistan shall receive water from the “Western Rivers” — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab.
The treaty also states that India is allowed limited use of the western rivers for domestic purposes, agriculture, and hydroelectric power generation. However, it can not alter the natural flow of these rivers into Pakistan.
Many experts note that the Indus Waters Treaty is highly generous agreement by India. This is because around 70 per cent of the total water flow from the Indus system — mostly from the three western rivers — is allocated to Pakistan.
Impact of India’s suspension of IWT
India’s decision to pause the Indus Waters Treaty will have a significant impact on Pakistan, one that they have underscored in their letter to New Delhi. “Holding in abeyance of Indus Waters Treaty is unilateral and illegal… Pakistan is an agrarian economy. Millions of people are dependent on the water being regulated by this treaty. The Indian decision is equivalent to an attack on the people of Pakistan and its economy,” read the letter, as per sources who viewed it.
And experts concur with this. Pakistan is heavily dependent on the Indus River system, with about 80 per cent of its cultivated land — roughly 16 million hectares — relying on water from these rivers. The rivers governed by the treaty (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) supply water for irrigation, urban consumption, and hydropower.
Pakistan is already one of the most water-stressed countries globally, with per capita water availability declining. The country’s water storage capacity is low, and any interruption exacerbates existing vulnerabilities.
Apart from agriculture, the Indus Waters is also important to Pakistani cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Multan for drinking purposes. A cut in the supply of water would lead to water scarcity in these cities, which will have a cascading effect on the country’s economy.
The decision to pause the Indus Waters Treaty will also allow New Delhi to build dam, which have the potential to block or divert water. Naseer Memon, a Pakistani water expert, noted in a report in The Guardian that this could be devastating for Islamabad. “This would be a humanitarian crisis. Millions of lives would be at stake.”
Additionally, key hydropower plants like Tarbela and Mangla are heavily dependent on the waters for power generation. Disrupting the flow, could stall power generation, crippling industries and homes. As the Business Standard wrote in one report, the Indus system supports nearly 25 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP. Disruption could lead to unemployment, rural migration, and increased loan defaults.
It is left to be seen if India changes its mind on the treaty, but if sources are to be believed, the pause on the Indus Waters Treaty will continue as a retaliation against the killing of tourists in Pahalgam.
With inputs from agencies
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