Home
+
Published : 25 Apr 2025, 08:45 PM
India has suspended its obligations under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a longstanding agreement that governs the use of water from six rivers in the Indus basin shared with Pakistan.
The move comes after a deadly militant attack on India-administered Kashmir, which India has blamed on Pakistan-based groups.
Islamabad denied the accusations and warned that any attempt to block or divert the rivers’ flow would be treated as an “act of war”, the BBC reports.
Signed in 1960 with World Bank’s mediation, the treaty has been one of the few active agreements between the two neighbouring countries, even surviving multiple wars.
The treaty gave India control over the three eastern rivers of the Indus basin: the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, and granted Pakistan access to over 80 percent of the waters from the three western rivers: the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab.
Pakistan depends heavily on these rivers, as they support more than 80 percent of the country’s agriculture, and one-third of its water-based energy sources, the report added.
The current suspension marks the first time either side has pulled back from the treaty’s commitments, raising concerns about water security in the region.
Although India holds a geographic advantage over Pakistan due to being the upstream country, it lacks the massive infrastructure required to block or divert large volumes of water, according to the BBC.
Most of India’s projects in the Indus basin are run-of-the-river hydropower plants, which do not store significant amounts of water.
Himanshu Thakkar, a water resources expert with the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, explained to BBC that these plants are designed to generate electricity from flowing water without requiring major reservoirs.
He added that while India has not yet fully utilised its 20 percent share of the western rivers, this move may open the door for it to build new storage infrastructure without Pakistan’s oversight.
India is no longer obligated to share project documents or hydrological data with Pakistan, a provision that was crucial for flood forecasting and water management downstream.
Pradeep Kumar Saxena, a former Indian commissioner for the IWT, confirmed the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that India could now withhold flood data during the critical monsoon season, though Pakistani officials told BBC that India was already sharing only limited information.
Experts also warn that India could use its existing structures to flush out silt without warning, which could cause damage downstream in Pakistan.
Hassan F Khan, a water policy academic at Tufts University, noted that the impact may be more severe during the dry season when storage and timing of water flow become crucial, reports BBC.
Some analysts have also raised concerns about the potential for "water bombing", a scenario where India could temporarily withhold water and then release it suddenly, causing flash floods in Pakistan, it added.
While experts say India would risk flooding its own territory in the process, the lack of treaty constraints raises fears that silt flushing or sudden discharges could be used as pressure tactics over its neighbouring country.
The suspension of the treaty also highlights broader regional concerns, according to the BBC. India is downstream of China in the Brahmaputra basin, and the Indus itself originates in Tibet.
In 2016, following similar tensions between India and Pakistan, China blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra, citing hydropower construction needs. The timing was viewed by some as a show of solidarity with Pakistan.
China's plans to build the world's largest dam on the same tributary could mirror the situation between India and Pakistan, with India fearing that China could gain major control over the river's flow.
