Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday kicked off an international seminar convened to highlight the legal and constitutional framework of the Indus Waters Treaty by stressing the 240 million citizens of Pakistan have an “inalienable right” to water from the Indus River System.
The Indus Waters Treaty allocates the waters from Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India and those from Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan. The agreement also has established mechanisms for data-sharing and dispute resolution. However, India unilaterally announced it was holding it in abeyance last year and senior officials have continued to claim they would ensure not a single drop of water reached Pakistan.
“When we say that Indus is our lifeline and our people, the 240 million people of Pakistan, have an inalienable right to the water of Indus, we mean it, from the core of our hearts,” said Tarar, describing the 1960 accord as an instrument of “peace and regional stability.”
Maintaining that the Indus Valley civilization defined the identity of the people of modern-day Pakistan, he said the country’s population had derived from communities based on the banks and tributaries of the Indus River. Water is life, he continued, and the “Indus has given life” to Pakistan.
“From the towering peaks of Gilgit-Baltistan to the fertile plains of Punjab and Sindh, these waters have connected our people across geography and history,” he said, emphasizing the story of Pakistan was in many ways the story of the Indus itself.
Summarizing the history of the Indus Waters Treaty, he noted it was signed under the auspices of the World Bank and had endured wars, political upheavals and prolonged periods of tension. “Its resilience, for more than six decades, demonstrates an enduring truth that cooperation, dialogue and adherence to international commitments remain the only sustainable path to peace,” he said, noting the accord was a “remarkable example” of the rule-based international order.
“It [Treaty] embodies the principle of good faith … the sanctity of agreements and peaceful dispute resolutions. These are not merely legal concepts, but foundations upon which trust is built,” he said, stressing that Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership had made clear the treaty could not be amended, revoked, suspended or held in abeyance unilaterally.
Slamming India’s decision to unilaterally hold the treaty in abeyance, he noted the deal had come about through mutual consensus of Pakistan and India and could only be amended or revised with the same mutual consensus. “India’s failed attempt at unilaterally holding this treaty in abeyance has led to international embarrassment for India at various forums, including legal forums,” he said.
Highlighting the need to protect the Treaty, he noted climate change was accelerating, glaciers were melting at an unprecedented rate and water scarcity was becoming the defining challenge of the present times. As home to nearly a quarter of humanity, South Asia’s collective future requires seeing water as a catalyst for cooperation rather than source of contention, he added.
“History teaches us that rivers do not divide civilizations; they connect them. Rivers transcend borders, politics and generations. They remind us that nature recognizes no boundaries, and that humanity’s shared challenges demand shared solutions,” he emphasized, warning any attempt to block water was doomed to failure as water always finds its own way.
“The weaponization of water or attempts to unilaterally alter established arrangements undermine not only regional peace and stability but also the broader framework of international law. International agreements, as I said, cannot be suspended or disregarded at convenience,” he said, noting respect for treaties was necessary to preserve the global order.
Noting Pakistan had consistently demonstrated its commitment to peaceful engagement and constructive dialogue and the faithful implementation of the treaty, he reiterated that any attempt to halt water to Pakistan would prompt an effective response. “Let us reaffirm today that we will, by all means, not only protect the sanctity of this treaty, but we will do all that we can to protect the inalienable right of the 240 million people of Pakistan to the water of the Indus River,” said the information minister.
“The waters of the Indus have flowed for millennia. They have witnessed transformations. Yet, they continue to sustain life with unwavering generosity. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that these waters remain a symbol of peace and shared prosperity for generations to come,” he said. “We collectively resolve today that we will do all that we can at all international forums, legally and otherwise, to ensure that the right to water of the Pakistani people is not only protected, but the world gets to see the illegal attempts being made by India to alter or change this treaty, which it cannot do,” he added.
No Response
In his address, Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah noted he had written to his Indian counterpart on fluctuations in the flow of the Chenab River four times since last April but had yet to receive any response. Describing the fluctuations as a “strategic hazard,” he noted a lack of data-sharing threatened manufactured vulnerability.
“These are precisely the events the Indus Water Commission exists to examine,” he said, maintaining Pakistan had tried to keep the channels of communication open despite India’s illegal actions. “Pakistan continued to provide the required data, sent correspondents, requested meetings, inspections, project information and [held] Article 9 consultations,” he said, regretting that there was no response from India.
Shah recalled India had adopted similar tactics even before the 2025 abeyance, with the last commission meeting occurring in May 2022. “No general or special tour of inspection, corresponding monthly data has remained outstanding after August 2023 and multiple core treaty communications have received no response,” he said, warning this increased the risk of “avoidable escalation.”
The commissioner stressed sharing hydrological information was an “operational necessity.” Without the relevant data, he warned, the downstream state is forced to guess whether it faces nature or the upstream operation.
Calling for an immediate commission meeting and full restoration of data-sharing, he emphasized that the Indus Waters Treaty is “life.”
Noting that Pakistan has opposed the construction of various Indian projects on the Indus River, Shah said the core issue was not “hydropower” but “accumulated upstream control without the treaty discipline.” He said India had started reopening its low-level outlets, warning this could lead to Delhi emptying the reservoirs and refilling and repeating these manipulations just to the detriment of Pakistan.
Additionally, said Shah, India’s plans to develop the Chenab-Beas link project could divert 1.9 million acre-feet of water from the Chenab. He said Pakistan’s legal position on the project remained clear and stemmed from Article 3 of the treaty, which dealt with the governance of the three western rivers. He recalled Islamabad had signed a bilateral agreement with India in 1978 for the Salal Dam on the Chenab, adding it required outlet works to be permanently plugged. Any move to unplug them for “emergencies,” he said, required immediate information, consultation, and site inspection.
On Article 9 of the treaty, pertaining to the dispute resolution mechanism, he said it began at the bilateral level and proceeded to a third-party forum if required. “The sequence is deliberate: institutional settlement first and third-party determination where necessary but no paralysis,” he said.
Noting the Court of Arbitration had “reactivated the treaty” and addressed any legal uncertainty around the issue, he recalled discord between the two countries since India began work on projects planned for western rivers of the Indus system in 2000. “In 2016, Pakistan decided that now it’s time to have the general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty, particularly the provisions which govern the development by India on the western rivers,” he said, recalling Pakistan received two awards from the Court of Arbitration, in 2025 and May 2026.
He said the rulings had confirmed four essential points. “First, India’s non-appearance before the court does not paralyze the proceedings. Second, the abeyance posture does not deprive the court of competence. Third, the award is final, binding and controlling. And India must let the western rivers flow with treaty exceptions applied strictly,” he said.
During his speech, Shah said the treaty was a matter of national security for Pakistan, adding the country’s “restraint” to Delhi’s actions had been deliberate. “But water, food, livelihood, and social stability are not negotiable abstractions; that is why Pakistan has publicly defined the strategic threshold for any attempt to stop and divert the treaty water belonging to Pakistan,” he said.
He explained that Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts concerning the Treaty did not aim to internationalize a quarrel, but rather to prevent a treaty breakdown from becoming a security crisis.
Violating law
During the proceedings, Russian expert Roxolana Zigon said India’s abeyance of the Treaty violates international law, noting it is regarded globally as one of the most successful water-sharing agreements.
She said the treaty had ensured water cooperation between Pakistan and India for more than six decades despite tensions between the two countries, adding it contains no provision for unilateral withdrawal. Noting over 90% of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on river water, and 21 major hydropower projects are linked to the Indus River System, she emphasized that almost the entire population of Pakistan is connected to the Indus basin in one way or another.
Zigon warned that India’s construction of dams in violation of the treaty risked boosting instability in the region, and accused Delhi of attempting to use water as a weapon. She said such actions eroded international trust.