India’s unilateral actions undermining int’l laws, water weaponization risks regional peace: Speakers at IWT seminar

ISLAMABAD, Jun 30 (APP):The speakers including the national political leadership, international legal experts, and policy analysts on Tuesday strongly condemned India’s unilateral and illegal decision to place the historic Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance, warning that New Delhi’s actions threaten the foundation of the international legal order and risk triggering a severe strategic conflict in South Asia.

Addressing an international seminar on “Indus Waters Treaty: An Instrument of Peace and Regional Stability” held here the speakers emphasized that the 1960 treaty was an internationally binding pact that cannot be suspended or revoked unilaterally.

Organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the seminar brought together federal ministers, diplomats, and international experts who viewed that India’s suspension of crucial hydrological data flows and mandated inspections amid an ongoing global climate crisis amounts to the dangerous weaponization of water and a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of over 240 million people in Pakistan.

The experts highlighted that the Treaty is one of the world’s most consequential transboundary water agreements, sustaining a predominantly irrigation-based economy and the livelihoods of over 240 million people as more than 80% of Pakistan’s arable land depends on Indus waters, making predictability, data sharing and routine Treaty procedures vital for human security, food security and disaster preparedness.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, stated that by illegally holding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance, New Delhi had undermined the international legal system and put the region under risk of conflict. He was speaking at the concluding session of the international seminar titled “Indus Waters Treaty: An Instrument of Peace and Regional Stability” organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

He called for viewing transboundary rivers as instruments of bringing countries closer to each other rather than becoming sources of discord. He added that it was in this spirit that Pakistan signed the IWT with India, despite the fact that it demanded significant concessions from Pakistan. Islamabad, he said, believed that the treaty would provide long-term predictability on the use of one of the most significant shared regional resources.

Dar expressed serious concerns over the Indian announcement of holding the treaty in abeyance as well as its refusal to cooperate with Pakistan on the shared resource as per the treaty.

“The sanctity of treaties is one of the foundations on which peaceful relations between nations are built,” he said. He urged the international community not to allow the weaponization of water.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, also stated that Indian disregard for the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was weakening the sanctity of the international legal system, as well as global peace and order.

The federal minister said that Indus defined Pakistan as a civilization and was part of its identity. “Pakistanis have an inalienable right to the waters of the Indus,” he added.

He maintained that India’s failed attempt at illegally holding the treaty in abeyance had led to international embarrassment for New Delhi. “The moral, social, and legal foundations of this attempt are weak,” he said. He urged the international community to take note of the illegal Indian attempts at altering the status of the treaty, especially in the face of a global climate crisis.

In his keynote address, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman Pakistan People’s Party and former federal minister for foreign affairs, said that if peace could not be imagined with the Strait of Hormuz blocked, how could the world expect peace and stability in the region with the IWT held in abeyance. He stated that India had weaponized water against Pakistan by targeting Pakistan’s lifeline.

He called for treating every Indian action in violation of the IWT as an act of war against Pakistan. He urged the international community to support Pakistan in challenging Indian illegal actions on the IWT to avoid escalation of conflict in the region and leading it to a strategic catastrophe. He called for an international convention against weaponization of global commons, including water.

Dr. Musadik Malik, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, said that Indian illegal actions on the IWT were compounding the climate crisis in Pakistan. “It is neither a crisis of climate nor a crisis of water but a crisis of justice,” he said. He added that by violating one of the strongest treaties of the world, India had shaken the foundations of the international legal system. He further stated that Indian actions were redefining the rights of lower riparian countries across the world, which should alert the international community to its global consequences.

Engr. Khurram Dastagir Khan, former federal minister for defence, listed all the illegal actions New Delhi took after holding the IWT in abeyance, including the closure of gates of Baglihar and Salal dams and fast-tracking of water projects on rivers covered by the IWT.

Hina Rabbani Khar, former minister of state for foreign affairs, stated that the IWT laid out the mechanism for any alteration to it. She added that India had managed to get away with its illegal action regarding an internationally binding treaty because of the uncertain state of the global order.

Ahmer Bilal Soofi, former caretaker federal minister for law and justice, termed transboundary waters as global commons under international law and added that no country could claim title to water flowing through its territories.

He further termed New Delhi’s holding of the treaty in abeyance an admission of its breach of the treaty, legally permitting Pakistan to respond with coercive and non-coercive measures.

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Aamer Riaz, former president of the National Defence University, maintained that India had started various projects on western rivers granted to Pakistan in violation of the IWT, which demonstrated the mala fide intentions of New Delhi to weaponize water against Pakistan even before it illegally held the treaty in abeyance.

Syed Mehr Ali Shah, Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters, stated that Indian actions were against the dispute resolution mechanisms provided for in Article IX of the treaty itself. He regretted the suspension of data flows from India under the treaty.

Dr. Roxolana Zigon, the head of the Scientific Centre for International & Strategic Studies at the University of World Civilizations in Moscow, shared that the IWT was widely celebrated for its durability internationally. She lauded the responsible approach of Pakistani decisionmakers in the wake of Indian actions, especially when provocative statements coming out of senior-ranking Indian decisionmakers.

Laurie Watkins, author and global policy expert from the US, argued that New Delhi’s decision to withhold data and not respond to Pakistan’s written correspondences about highly inconsistent river flows violated principles of customary international law even if it had held the IWT in abeyance.

Prof. Victor Gao, Vice President of the Centre for China and Globalization, Beijing, termed Indian suspension of the IWT a crime against humanity. He maintained that India was a midstream country because even if it was an upper riparian to Pakistan, it was a lower riparian to China. He added that Beijing could deter Indian attempts to coerce Pakistan through weaponization of water.

In his concluding remarks, President IRS, Ambassador Jauhar Saleem, stated that enduring peace could be best secured through respect for international law, fidelity to international commitments, and appreciation for the institutions that enable nations to resolve their differences peacefully. He added that lasting water security depended not only the quantity of available water but also on the certainty, transparency, predictability, and cooperation. Therefore, the only way forward was abiding by the Indus Waters Treaty in letter and spirit.