‘Unprecedented crisis’: Pakistan cries in UN over India’s decision to keep Indus Water Treaty in abeyance

Pakistan has accused India of creating an “unprecedented crisis” by placing the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the Pahalgham massacre last year, warning that the move has severely threatened the country’s water security. The charge was made by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, at the Global Water Bankruptcy Policy Roundtable hosted by Canada and the United Nations University on Tuesday.

Addressing the forum, Jadoon described India’s decision to suspend the World Bank-brokered 1960 treaty as the “weaponisation of water.” He said the Indus Waters Treaty, signed more than six decades ago, had served as a time-tested framework for the equitable and predictable management of the Indus River basin, which supports one of the world’s largest contiguous irrigation systems.

Jadoon said India had committed serious violations of the landmark agreement by withholding critical hydrological data and creating disruptions in downstream water flows. He said these actions had directly undermined the stability and reliability that the treaty was designed to ensure for lower riparian states.


Describing Pakistan’s situation, Jadoon said water insecurity was a lived reality for the country. He said Pakistan, a semi-arid and climate-vulnerable lower riparian state, was grappling with recurring floods and droughts, accelerated glacier melt, groundwater depletion and rapid population growth, all of which were placing immense pressure on already stressed water systems. He said these challenges were compounding the impact of India’s decision on Pakistan’s water resources.

He further noted that the Indus River basin provides more than 80 percent of Pakistan’s agricultural water needs and supports the lives and livelihoods of over 240 million people. According to him, any disruption to the basin’s management framework had far-reaching consequences for food security, economic stability and social well-being in the country.

Jadoon said India’s move to hold the treaty in abeyance had laid bare Pakistan’s existing water vulnerabilities, which were further exacerbated by the country’s limited capacity to store water efficiently. He said the situation had highlighted the urgent need to address long-standing structural weaknesses in Pakistan’s water management systems.

Last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged provincial governments to take concrete steps to tackle the water security challenges that emerged following India’s actions related to the treaty.