Pakistan Accuses India of Weaponizing Water via Chenab River Projects

The Government of Pakistan has accused India of weaponizing water and committing grave violations of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and international law. The dispute centers on two Indian infrastructure projects on the Chenab River: a sediment management tunnel at the Salal Dam and the Chenab-Beas Link. The latter, an 8.7-km tunnel in Himachal Pradesh estimated at Rs 2,300 crore, aims to divert 1.9 million acre-feet of water annually from the Chenab basin to the Beas river system. Pakistan warns that these diversions threaten its food and economic security and could be viewed as an act of war.

India has maintained that the IWT remains in abeyance, a status adopted in 2025 following a terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people and the subsequent Indian military response, Operation Sindoor. The Government of India asserts its right to utilize available water resources and has linked the restoration of the treaty to a credible end to Pakistan's sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. As a manifestation of this policy, gates at the Baglihar Dam in Jammu and Kashmir remain closed.

Diplomatic tensions escalated after India rejected a May 15, 2026, ruling by a Hague-based Court of Arbitration regarding treaty interpretation, labeling the court illegally constituted. While Pakistan claims India failed to officially communicate the new projects, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority in Punjab reported receiving notice from Indian officials on May 22 regarding water inflow at the Salal Dam. Work on the Chenab-Beas Link is scheduled to begin August 1, 2026.