One Year On, India Keeps Indus Treaty in Abeyance as Data Blackout Deepens Risk

Overview

• India’s suspension, which reached its one-year mark in April 2026, has left the treaty’s joint bodies idle and cut off routine cross-border water data.
• The Permanent Court of Arbitration said the 1960 pact still binds both countries, yet India rejected the finding and skipped later proceedings.
• Pakistan says halting Article VI data has crippled flood warnings and farm planning, citing a roughly 90% downstream drop during Indian dam flushing in May 2025.
• Upstream projects in Indian-administered Kashmir—including Kishanganga, Baglihar, Ratle, Pakal Dul and Sawalkot—let operators store or release water to time flows that reach Pakistan.
• Pakistan has leaned on treaty mechanisms and UN scrutiny, as Special Rapporteurs sought answers India has not supplied, raising wider concerns about how states treat binding water accords.