- Indus Water Treaty cannot be suspended unilaterally: Jadoon.
- It asserts that systemic water risks cannot be managed by any nation alone.
- Pakistan calls for compliance with water law ahead of 2026 UN conference.
Islamabad has warned that New Delhi’s unilateral decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) has created an unprecedented crisis for Pakistan’s water security and regional stability.
These concerns were raised by Pakistan’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, during a speech at the Roundtable on Global Water Bankruptcy Policy organized by the Permanent Mission of Canada and the United Nations University (UNU).
Ambassador Jadoon said India’s decision, taken in April last year, was followed by substantial violations of the treaty, including unannounced disruptions of downstream water flows and withholding of hydrological information.
He described India’s move as deliberate militarization of water and said Pakistan’s position on the Indus Water Treaty is unequivocal.
“Pakistan’s position is unequivocal; the treaty remains legally intact and does not permit any unilateral suspension or modification,” he added.
Ambassador Jadoon said that for more than six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 has served as a proven framework for equitable and predictable management of the Indus Basin.
Highlighting the importance of the basin, he said it hosts one of the largest contiguous irrigation systems in the world, provides more than 80 per cent of Pakistan’s agricultural water needs and supports the lives and livelihoods of more than 240 million people.
The ambassador said water insecurity has become a systemic risk across all regions, affecting food production, energy systems, public health, livelihoods and human security.
Referring to Pakistan’s situation, he said the country is a semi-arid state, vulnerable to climate and lower rivers, facing floods, droughts, accelerated melting of glaciers, groundwater depletion and rapid population growth, all of which place immense pressure on already stressed water systems.
He said Pakistan was taking steps to strengthen water resilience through integrated planning, flood protection, irrigation rehabilitation, groundwater replenishment and ecosystem restoration. He cited initiatives such as Living Indus and Recharge Pakistan in this regard.
Ambassador Jadoon said systemic water risks cannot be managed by any nation alone, especially in shared river basins. He said predictability, transparency and cooperation in transboundary water governance are issues of survival for downstream populations.
The ambassador added that water insecurity should be recognized as a global systemic risk in the run-up to the 2026 UN Water Conference, calling for placing cooperation and respect for international water law at the center of shared water governance to ensure the protection of vulnerable downstream communities.
