Overview
- Pakistan convened an international seminar in Islamabad on Tuesday to press its case that the 1960 World Bank‑brokered Indus Waters Treaty remains legally binding despite New Delhi’s 2025 announcement placing the treaty in abeyance.
- Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and other ministers said any attempt to divert, interrupt, or reduce Pakistan’s share of the western rivers would be treated as an act of war and urged the world to reject the ‘weaponisation’ of shared waters.
- Pakistani officials at the seminar accused India of recent operational moves that have altered Chenab and Jhelum flows, withheld hydrological data, and advanced projects—claims that Islamabad says undermine downstream flood forecasting, irrigation and food security.
- Senior ministers issued forceful deterrent language, including vows to ‘forcibly stop’ claimed diversions, while Islamabad publicly called for disputes to be resolved through treaty mechanisms and international legal channels rather than unilateral action.
- Speakers urged a binding international covenant to prohibit using rivers as leverage, warning that the treaty’s erosion would threaten regional stability and the livelihoods of millions who depend on the Indus basin.