WASHINGTON: Pakistan strongly criticised India at the United Nations on Wednesday for politicising water and unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), calling the move a direct threat to its agriculture, livelihoods, and regional stability.

Speaking via video message at a high-level UN event on World Water Day, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordi­nation Dr Musadik Malik said India’s decision to place the treaty “in abeyance” undermines decades of cooperation and violates international law.

“For us, water is nature. Water is humanity. Water is our civilisation. For us, water is agriculture,” Dr Malik said, emphasising that 25-30 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP and nearly half of its workforce depend on agriculture, which is entirely linked to water availability.

He warned that the unilateral politicisation of water is not just a legal issue but a humanitarian one.

Climate change minister says water rights also linked to rights of vulnerable communities, food, women and children

Highlighting recent climate disasters, he said floods have killed nearly 6,000 people, displaced 40 million, and disrupted education for millions of children in Pakistan.

“When we fight for water rights, we are also fighting for women’s rights,” Dr Malik added, noting that over 61 per cent of women’s employment is tied to agriculture, underlining the link between water access, gender empowerment, and national prosperity.

Indian Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, however, told the world body that New Delhi would continue to hold the treaty “in abeyance until Pakistan ... credibly and irrevocably ends its support for all forms of terrorism”, an allegation Islamabad has already rejected as baseless.

The Indian envoy also claimed that there have been fundamental changes over the last 65 years, adding that “technology for dam infrastructure, growing need for clean energy, climate and demographic changes warrant amendments to the Treaty”. He said India had made several efforts to engage Pakistan to discuss these changes but “all our efforts to discuss modifications to the Treaty with Pakistan were rebuffed”.

Pakistan’s Second Secretary Aleena Majeed, using the right of reply, rejected India’s claims and reaffirmed Pakistan’s legal position. “The unilateral holding in abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty by India represents a grave departure from this legal and historical legacy,” she said, adding that a 2025 Court of Arbitration award confirmed the treaty remains fully in force and binding.

She also rejected India’s attempt to link the water dispute to terrorism, calling such accusations “entirely baseless” and aimed at deflecting attention from India’s own record of state-sponsored violence and cross-border aggression.

“We reiterate our firm and unequivocal rejection of all attempts to weaponise water and to use it for political gains. Pakistan remains firmly committed to international law and to the faithful performance of treaty obligations,” Ms Majeed said.

In the earlier statement, the federal minister for climate change and environmental coordination also highlighted Pakistan’s climate and water management policies, including integration of gender inclusion, community participation, and youth engagement in sustainable development strategies. He announced the launch of a Green Virtual University, a platform for research and innovation on agriculture, water, and climate resilience.

The minister said that World Water Day is not just a celebration of water but also a reaffirmation of water rights, women’s rights, and the rights of vulnerable communities, stressing that Pakistan will continue to defend these rights at every international forum.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates the western rivers of Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab largely to Pakistan, and the eastern rivers of Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej to India.

The treaty has survived wars, crises, and political tensions for more than six decades and is considered a rare example of durable water-sharing cooperation between the two neighbours.

In April 2025, India announced a unilateral suspension of its obligations under the treaty, linking the move to alleged cross-border terrorism, a claim Pakistan rejects, which has now brought the decades-old water accord into the centre of broader geopolitical tensions.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2026