Pakistan Warns India’s Water Projects Threaten Indus System

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday sharply criticised India over what it described as a growing attempt to reshape the Indus river system through a series of water projects, warning that the move could carry serious regional, legal and humanitarian consequences.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar raised the issue in a recorded keynote address at a seminar titled Transboundary Water Resources: A Weaponised Global Common. He said at least 17 Indian projects, including reservoirs, expansions and diversion-related schemes, could significantly affect rivers that are central to Pakistan’s water security.

Dar linked the concern to India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which has remained under strain since New Delhi moved to place its treaty obligations in abeyance after a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir. Pakistan has rejected Indian allegations connected to the incident and has continued to call for legal and diplomatic handling of the dispute.

The foreign minister said Pakistan’s concerns were not limited to political statements from India, arguing that New Delhi had followed its position with practical actions. He referred to proposed or ongoing works on rivers including the Indus, Chenab and Ravi, and warned that such developments could give India excessive control over water flows.

Dar also stressed that responsible states should work within established legal frameworks instead of stepping outside treaty commitments. He said the Indus Waters Treaty provides mechanisms for peaceful dispute resolution and has survived wars, crises and repeated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, divided the Indus basin between the two countries by granting India rights over the eastern rivers and Pakistan major rights over the western rivers. For decades, the treaty has been treated as one of the few durable cooperation frameworks between Islamabad and New Delhi.

The latest warning comes at a time when climate stress, population growth and agricultural pressure have made water security increasingly sensitive for Pakistan. Any disruption to river flows could affect irrigation, drinking water access, hydropower generation and food production in a country already exposed to floods, droughts and extreme weather.

Dar said water must not be treated as a coercive tool and urged the international community to recognise the wider danger of weaponising shared natural resources. He argued that the sanctity of treaties is not only a South Asian concern but also a global principle essential for peaceful international order.

For Pakistan, the issue carries both strategic and domestic significance. The country depends heavily on the Indus system for agriculture, livelihoods and energy, meaning any change in upstream management can quickly become a national security and economic concern.

The next phase will depend on how Pakistan pursues the matter through diplomatic, legal and multilateral channels. Islamabad is expected to keep pressing for enforcement of the treaty while seeking international attention to what it views as a threat to regional stability and the water rights of millions of people.