RAHUL Gandhi’s recent statement that Narendra Modi has unintentionally united Pakistan and China is not just a political jab, but a warning rooted in strategic realism. His reference to Kargil and Ladakh highlights a shifting geopolitical triangle where water, defence as well as diplomacy are increasingly interlinked.

India’s repeated threats to revoke or undermine the Indus Waters Treaty not only breach international conventions, like the Helsinki Rules and the United Nations Watercourses Convention, but also provoke regional instability. China, as the upper riparian of five major rivers flowing across South Asia, could adopt similar tactics in retaliation, jeopardising India’s eastern and northern regions.

The growing military and intelligence cooperation between Pakistan and China through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the JF-17 project and satellite coordination, further complicates India’s strategic calculus. Meanwhile, the inter-national community has often remained largely silent despite India’s unilateral moves and rulings by global arbitration bodies in Pakistan’s favour.

If this attitude continues, water could become the new weapon of war in South Asia, replacing diplomacy with deterrence. The Modi government must realise that sustainable regional peace lies not in coercion, but in cooperation. Upholding treaties, encouraging dialogue and recognising shared ecological realities are the ways to prevent a water-fuelled confrontation in an already volatile region.

Imtiaz Khan Mohmand
Mardan

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2025