Pakistan Urges UNSC Action Over India’s Indus Treaty Moves

UNITED NATIONS/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally taken its concerns over the Indus Waters Treaty to the UN Security Council, with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar warning that India’s latest water-related actions could endanger Pakistan’s water security, food systems and regional stability.

According to the report, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, delivered Dar’s letter to the current UNSC president, Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres of Colombia. The communication urged the council to take notice of what Islamabad described as India’s serious and deliberate violations of the treaty framework governing the Indus river system.

The letter focused particularly on two Indian infrastructure projects linked to the Chenab River system. Pakistan says the projects appear designed to divert water in a way that could alter flows protected under the Indus Waters Treaty, raising fears that New Delhi is using water control as a strategic tool rather than managing a shared natural resource through legal commitments.

Ambassador Ahmad said the council had been briefed on the wider South Asian security environment as well as India’s position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. He warned that the dispute over river flows was no longer a narrow technical matter, but a question with consequences for peace, economic stability and humanitarian security in the region.

The latest diplomatic move follows Dar’s earlier warning that at least 17 Indian projects on Indus-linked waterways could give New Delhi what he called instruments of hydro-hegemony. Pakistan has repeatedly argued that the design, storage and diversion capacity of such projects could undermine the protections granted to the country under the treaty.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, divides use of the Indus basin between Pakistan and India. The eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — were allocated to India, while the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — were largely reserved for Pakistan, making the agreement central to Pakistan’s agriculture, hydropower and long-term water planning.

Tensions have intensified since India announced last year that it was placing its treaty obligations in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack, while Pakistan rejected the allegation and called for an impartial investigation. Pakistan also maintains that no country can unilaterally suspend or weaken an international water-sharing treaty.

Islamabad has pointed to recent proceedings before the Permanent Court of Arbitration as support for its position, saying the court has reinforced limits on India’s ability to expand water-control capacity on western rivers. The Foreign Office has also objected to reported Indian plans for a Chenab-Beas link project and concerns around Salal Dam operations, calling such steps incompatible with treaty obligations.

For Pakistan, the issue has direct national consequences because the Indus system sustains major farming regions, drinking water supplies and energy generation. Any disruption or uncertainty in river flows could affect crop output, rural livelihoods, provincial water allocations and broader economic security at a time when climate pressures are already increasing stress on water resources.

The matter now moves into a more diplomatic phase as Pakistan presses the Security Council to acknowledge the risks and hold India accountable. Whether the council takes formal action remains uncertain, but Islamabad is expected to continue raising the dispute at international forums while seeking legal and diplomatic safeguards for its treaty-protected water rights.