By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations urged India on Thursday to resume compliance with a longstanding water-sharing treaty between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, warning that New Delhi’s unilateral suspension of the pact earlier this year exemplified the dangerous weaponization of shared natural resources amid armed conflicts.
The statement by Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad came during a Security Council briefing on the environmental impacts of armed conflicts, where he highlighted the broader perils of such disputes, including millions of tons of rubble, explosive remnants of war, contaminated water, degraded soils and deforestation. These effects, he said, erode governance, fuel displacement and deepen humanitarian crises. “Of even greater concern is the deliberate weaponisation of shared natural resources,” Ahmad said. “A textbook example is the unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India earlier this year.”
The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, divides control of the rivers in the Indus basin between India and Pakistan. It grants Pakistan rights to the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India may use the western rivers for limited purposes, such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes.
Tensions over the treaty have simmered for decades, with Pakistan accusing India of planning hydropower dams that would reduce water flows on the shared Indus River and its tributaries. India announced in April that it would hold the treaty “in abeyance” following a gun attack in occupied Kashmir that killed more than 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan, which denied involvement.
In August, the International Court of Arbitration issued an award on general interpretations of the treaty, addressing criteria for new run-of-river hydropower projects that India plans to build on the western rivers. Pakistan described the ruling as a vindication of its position. The court declared that India shall “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use, with specified exceptions for hydroelectric plants required to conform strictly to the treaty’s requirements rather than to what India might consider an “ideal” or “best practices approach,” according to Pakistan’s foreign office. The findings on low-level outlets, gated spillways, intakes for turbines and free-board aligned with Pakistan’s interpretation, and the award also limited India from maximizing pondage volume.
Notably, the court observed that its awards are “final and binding on the parties,” with a controlling legal effect on subsequent courts or neutral experts, the Pakistani foreign office said. “The Court of Arbitration’s 2025 award reaffirmed the continuing validity of the Treaty and its dispute-settlement mechanisms, upholding Pakistan’s position that all issues must be resolved within its legal framework,” Ahmad told the Council. “We therefore expect full respect for the Treaty and an early return to compliance and normal functioning through the established channels.”
Pakistan has long argued that no provision of the treaty, which has ensured equitable sharing of the Indus basin’s waters for over six decades, permits unilateral suspension or modification. “India’s unlawful unilateral decision to suspend this framework undermines the letter and spirit of the Treaty, threatens ecosystems, disrupts data-sharing, and endangers the lives of millions who depend on the Indus river water system for food and energy security, for their survival,” Ahmad said. He added that such actions extend beyond bilateral harm, weakening confidence in international water law and setting a precedent for resource-driven coercion worldwide. “This should be of grave concern for every member of this Council and for the international community as a whole.”
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