India Keeps Indus Waters Treaty in Suspension Despite Pakistan’s Pleas Post-Pahalgam Attack
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 6th June: Amid mounting desperation and a looming water crisis, Pakistan has written four consecutive letters urging India to reconsider its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), sources in the Indian government confirmed. The move to pause the 1960 water-sharing pact was triggered after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists in April.
Despite the diplomatic overtures, India remains firm, asserting that “blood and water cannot flow together.” The suspension, endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), marked the first time New Delhi hit pause on the World Bank-brokered agreement, citing national security interests and Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.
Sources revealed that Pakistan’s Secretary of Water Resources, Syed Ali Murtaza, sent the appeals directly to India’s Jal Shakti Ministry, which then forwarded them to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). However, India has reiterated that the treaty will remain in abeyance until Pakistan takes “credible and irreversible” steps to dismantle terror infrastructure and end cross-border hostilities.
India’s firm stance followed the launch of Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror hideouts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and across the border. Pakistan, cornered by diplomatic isolation and internal pressure, has been pushing for peace talks. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed a willingness to engage with India, a move seen as a direct response to warnings from within Pakistan over the looming water crisis.
“This is like a water bomb hanging over us, and we must defuse it,” Pakistani Senator Syed Ali Zafar warned last month. Highlighting the severity of the situation, he said that 90% of Pakistan’s agriculture, major power projects, and the livelihood of millions depend on the Indus basin, much of whose waters originate in India.
The IWT, signed in 1960, governs the use of the six major rivers of the Indus Basin — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. While India has adhered to the agreement despite multiple provocations, officials argue that Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by refusing to engage in technical modifications and by supporting terrorism.
At an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council on May 24, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, P. Harish, defended the suspension. “Far-reaching changes — including security concerns, climate change, and clean energy demands — necessitate a rethink of the treaty,” he said. Harish also reminded the global community that Pakistan had rejected multiple Indian proposals over the past two years to update the treaty’s provisions.
“While the preamble of the treaty emphasizes goodwill and friendship, Pakistan has inflicted three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India,” Harish stated.
