Pakistan urges UNSC president to press India to restore Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan on Thursday urged the United Nations to call upon India to restore full implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that New Delhi’s “illegal” decision to hold the accord in abeyance carried grave peace, security, and humanitarian consequences for the region.

The development comes after the completion of one year since India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following last year’s April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), in which 26 people were killed by unidentified assailants.

According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s Mission to the UN, the country’s permanent representative, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, handed over a letter from Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to the president of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei of Bahrain.

Also Read: FO rubbishes India’s ‘false narrative’ linking Pakistan to Pahalgam attack

“The letter draws the attention of the Security Council, one year after India’s illegal decision to hold the IWT in abeyance, of its grave peace and security, and humanitarian consequences,” the statement said.

It urged the Security Council to take cognisance of the situation and call on India to restore full implementation of the treaty, resume all treaty-mandated cooperation and data-sharing without delay, desist from any form of water coercion, and comply fully with its international obligations in good faith.

The statement added that the permanent representative also briefed the Security Council president on what it described as the “regurgitation of baseless allegations and propaganda by India” at a time when Pakistan was engaged in mediation efforts to promote regional and international peace and security.

Ambassador Iftikhar further underscored that the “unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute — a longstanding item on the SC’s agenda — was the root cause of instability in South Asia that necessitated a just and lasting settlement in accordance with relevant SC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people”, the statement concluded.

The IWT of 1960 stands as one of the most carefully negotiated and legally robust transboundary water agreements in modern international law. Concluded between Pakistan and India with the good offices of the World Bank, the treaty was designed to remove water from the volatility of politics and conflict and to anchor it firmly in law, engineering discipline, and neutral dispute resolution. It is a binding international instrument governed by the foundational principle of pacta sunt servanda — that treaties must be honoured in good faith.

Read: Pakistan accuses India of violating Indus Waters Treaty

At the heart of the IWT lies a permanent and unqualified allocation of rivers. Article II vests the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — exclusively in India, while Article III accords Pakistan exclusive rights over the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. This allocation was the treaty’s foundational bargain.

India’s access to the western rivers is permitted only within the narrow confines of Article III(2) of the Indus Waters Treaty, read with Annexures D and E, allowing limited, non-consumptive uses such as run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects. These permissions are subject to strict design and operational constraints, including limits on pondage, prohibition of storage for flow regulation, and a ban on engineering features enabling control over water flows to Pakistan.

These safeguards were intended to protect Pakistan as the lower riparian and prevent water from becoming a strategic tool. Pakistan’s objections to projects such as Kishanganga and Ratle stem from concerns over excessive pondage, gated spillways, and drawdown mechanisms, which it says violate treaty provisions and could affect downstream flows, particularly during lean seasons.

The dispute entered a more troubling phase in April 2025, when, following a terrorist incident in Pahalgam, India announced that it was placing the Indus Waters Treaty “in abeyance”.

Read More: India skips IWT case proceedings at The Hague

Earlier this year, India unilaterally approved the Dulhasti Stage-II Hydropower Project on the Chenab River, an action that violates the treaty’s provisions governing the western rivers and infringes upon Pakistan’s legally protected rights under the binding international agreement.

The unilateral suspension and expedited approval of upstream projects, including the withholding of hydrological data, diversion of river flows, and alteration of natural regimes, constitute deliberate water weaponisation, jeopardising Pakistan’s agriculture, food security, hydropower generation, and ecological stability. Under the IWT, customary international law, and Article 51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan has clear legal avenues to respond.

International law expressly prohibits the use of water as a weapon against downstream populations, making strict enforcement of the IWT essential not only for bilateral stability but also for the integrity of global water governance norms.