Pakistan Seeks International Support After India Suspends Water Treaty

The Government of Pakistan is seeking international support to restore the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty after the Government of India suspended the agreement in April 2025. India placed the water-sharing framework in abeyance following a Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians. Indian officials maintain that treaty operations will remain suspended until Pakistan takes verifiable action to dismantle cross-border terror networks, citing the principle that "blood and water cannot flow together."

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar argued during a virtual seminar that India's decision lacks a legal basis and threatens the food, economic, and national security of 250 million Pakistanis. Dar emphasized that climate change and water stress make cooperation essential and warned that depriving Pakistan of its allocated water would have profound consequences for regional peace.

In a separate exchange, Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh rejected claims by Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra that Pakistan had destroyed the treaty. Writing in Newsweek, Sheikh asserted that the agreement remains legally binding and cannot be unilaterally terminated. He defended Pakistan's use of dispute-resolution mechanisms regarding hydropower development as a legitimate right under the treaty and called on India to rescind its unilateral measures to ensure regional water security.