NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, May 15: Pakistan has formally requested India to reconsider its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning of significant consequences for millions of Pakistanis who rely on the water governed by the 1960 agreement.
The appeal was made in a letter from Syed Ali Murtaza, secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources, addressed to Debashree Mukherjee, secretary of India’s Jal Shakti Ministry, sources confirmed. The move follows India’s decision to put the treaty in abeyance after a terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that claimed 26 lives, primarily tourists.
India has yet to issue an official response to Pakistan’s letter. However, senior government sources indicated that there is no change in the position taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which approved the suspension on April 23, citing national security interests.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation following “Operation Sindoor”, had declared, “Blood and water cannot flow together,” reinforcing India’s hardened stance on cross-border terror and water sharing.
India also rejected Pakistan’s claim that the suspension of the treaty was “illegal”, maintaining that the move was justified under the prevailing circumstances.
In the days following the suspension, India carried out flushing and desilting operations at the Baglihar and Salal hydropower projects on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir. These activities reportedly disrupted water flows downstream, impacting Pakistan’s irrigation planning ahead of its critical sowing season.
Since the suspension of the treaty, India is no longer obligated to share hydrological data with Pakistan, further complicating agricultural forecasting and planning across the border.
The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates the waters of the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — to Pakistan, and the eastern rivers — Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — to India. Under its terms, Pakistan receives about 70% of the water from the Indus system, while India utilizes the remaining 30%.
With tensions continuing to escalate, regional observers suggest that the treaty’s future now hinges not just on diplomacy, but also on the trajectory of India-Pakistan security relations.
