Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday sounded the alarm over India’s “weaponisation of water” following abrupt variations in the flow of the Chenab River, which have caused consternation among farmers in Punjab. He made the remarks while addressing an urgent media briefing for the diplomatic corps in Islamabad, a day after the Foreign Office said it had sought a clarification from India via a letter over the sudden variation in the Chenab River’s flow. At the beginning of his briefing, Dar said he wished to draw attention to a situation that threatened peace and stability in South Asia. “We witnessed in April this year India’s unilateral abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) … But what we are witnessing now is material breaches by India that strike at the heart of the IWT with escalating consequences for regional stability and sanctity of international law,” he said. “We have observed unusual, abrupt variations in the flow of the Chenab River twice this year,” he said, adding that these were observed from April 30 to May 21 and from Dec 7 to Dec 15. “These variations in water flow are of extreme concern to Pakistan as they point to the unilateral release of water by India into the Chenab River. India has released this water without any prior notification or any data or information sharing with Pakistan as required under the treaty,” he said. “India’s manipulation of water has prompted our Indus water commissioner to write a letter to his Indian counterpart seeking clarification on the matter as provided in the IWT,” he said. He further said that India’s most recent action “clearly exemplifies the weaponisation of water to which Pakistan has been consistently drawing attention of the international community”. “India’s manipulation of water at a critical time of our agricultural cycle directly threatens the life and livelihood as well as the food and economic security of our citizens,” he said. Dar said that Pakistan expected India to respond to the queries raised by the country’s Indus water commissioner, refrain from any unilateral manipulation of river flows, and fulfil all its obligations in letter and spirit under the IWT provisions. “Recent violations of the treaty by India are just one example. India has consistently attempted to undermine the treaty in a systemic manner,” he said. The deputy prime minister said that India‘s construction of hydropower projects such as Kishanganga and Ratle involved design features that violated the treaty’s technical specifications. “India continues to build illegal dams in sheer disregard of the treaty obligations to impose fait accompli. With the building of dams, Indian capacity to store and manipulate water is also increasing which endangers Pakistan’s security, economy, and the livelihood of 240 million people,” he said. Dar said India had halted sharing information, hydrological data, and joint oversight required by the treaty, which had exposed Pakistan to floods and droughts. “Such illegal and irresponsible Indian conduct has all the potential to trigger a humanitarian crisis in Pakistan,“ he asserted, adding that ongoing water manipulation by India was in violation of international and humanitarian law. “If India is allowed to violate the treaty and obligations under the treaty with impunity, we are setting a very dangerous precedent,“ he said. Dar further said that India was also subverting the treaty’s dispute resolution mechanism by refusing to participate in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and neutral expert proceedings. “India is pursuing a deliberate strategy to sabotage a well-established arbitration process under the treaty provisions. Pakistan would like to reiterate that the IWT is a binding legal instrument that has made an invaluable contribution to the peace and stability of South Asia,” he said. He said that violating the treaty threatened the inviolability of international treaties and also posed serious threats to regional peace and security. He noted that PCA had recently reaffirmed the continued validity of the treaty and its dispute resolution mechanisms. In June, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) — an organisation that provides a framework for international disputes — issued a Supplemental Award of Competence, stating that India cannot unilaterally hold the treaty in abeyance. “These rulings leave no ambiguity that the IWT is alive and its provisions remain binding on the parties,” he said, calling on the international community to reject “Indian impunity“. He also talked about a report by UN rapporteurs, saying that they had also expressed concern regarding India’s actions in connection with the IWT. Dar noted that the report was made public on December 15. “As per the report, on June 21, India’s home minister declared that India would never restore the treaty and would instead divert to India’s Rajasthan via a new canal,” he said. He went on to say that the same report said that on April 21, Pakistan’s national security committee declared that any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water to Pakistan under the treaty will be considered as an act of war”. On the matter of holding the IWT in abeyance, Dar said that the report observed that the action risked affecting the “human rights of millions of people in Pakistan”. Dar once again called on the international community to take notice of India’s “continued disregard” of a bilateral treaty and counsel India to act “responsibly”. The minister also took note of “belligerent statements” from Indian leadership, which he said demonstrated India’s “intentions, designs to weaponise water aimed at inflicting harm to Pakistan and its people”. “We have repeatedly brought the situation to the attention of the UN Security Council (UNSC),” he said. He said that he had also written to the UN secretary general and the president of the UN General Assembly to play their “due role” in the matter. Dar once again reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes with India; however, he warned that Pakistan “will not compromise on the existential water rights of its people”. As the minister concluded his address, he urged the international community, particularly UNSC members, “to take immediate steps to address this situation”. He expressed optimism that the international community, in its capacity, will call on India to “restore the IWT in full, stop the weaponisation of water, uphold international law and treaty obligations and refrain from undermining the peace and stability of South Asia”. “Water is life, and it can not be weaponised,” Dar concluded. According to daily reports of the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), the situation related to inflows and outflows at Marala headworks on the Chenab River was found to be alarming from Dec 9 to Dec 18. The inflows and outflows at Marala were monitored on the said dates with 10,100 and 3,800 cusecs on Dec 9, respectively, 6,900 and 1,500 cusecs on Dec 10. India had held the IWT in abeyance in April following the attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 — an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without evidence. Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share under the treaty an “act of war”, noting the treaty had no provision for unilateral suspension.
Dar sounds alarm over India’s ‘weaponisation of water’ following variations in Chenab flow
