Pakistan warns India’s Indus treaty move threatens water security

Islamabad tells UN India’s unilateral action risks regional stability and breaches 1960 accord

Pakistan has warned that India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty poses a serious threat to water security and regional stability, saying the landmark agreement remains legally binding and cannot be altered by one side alone.

The remarks were made by Pakistan’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, at the Global Water Bankruptcy Policy Roundtable hosted by the Permanent Mission of Canada and the United Nations University on Tuesday.

Jadoon described India’s decision as that of a country that deliberately weaponises water. He said Pakistan’s position was unequivocal: the Indus Waters Treaty remains legally intact and permits no unilateral suspension or modification.

In a press release issued by Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Jadoon said India’s move to hold the treaty in abeyance in April last year, followed by unannounced disruptions of downstream water flows and the withholding of hydrological information, amounted to material breaches of the agreement.

Read: India’s suspension of Indus Waters Treaty, International Law, and Pakistan’s right of self-defence

Speaking at the roundtable, he said the 1960 treaty had, for more than six decades, provided a time-tested framework for the equitable and predictable management of the Indus River basin. He noted that the system supports over 80% of Pakistan’s agricultural water needs and sustains the livelihoods of more than 240 million people.

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India’s Unilateral Suspension of IWT Threatens Water Security & Regional Stability: Pakistan

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Jadoon said water insecurity had become a systemic risk across regions, affecting food production, energy systems, public health, livelihoods and human security. Referring to Pakistan, he said the country faces floods, droughts, accelerated glacier melt, groundwater depletion and rapid population growth, all of which are placing immense pressure on already stressed water systems.

He said Pakistan was strengthening water resilience through integrated planning, flood protection, irrigation rehabilitation, groundwater replenishment and ecosystem restoration, including initiatives such as Living Indus and Recharge Pakistan.

Read more: IWT dispute moves forward without India

Jadoon added that systemic water risk cannot be managed by any country alone, especially in shared river basins. He stressed the need for predictability, transparency and cooperation in transboundary water governance and said water insecurity should be recognised as a global systemic risk ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference, with respect for international water law placed at the centre of shared water management.