India says it will ‘never' restore indus waters treaty with Pakistan
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah
India has declared that it will not reinstate the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, with plans to redirect water flowing into Pakistan for domestic use, according to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah.
The announcement follows India’s suspension of its participation in the landmark 1960 treaty after a deadly incident in Indian-administered Kashmir in April, where 26 people were killed in what New Delhi termed a Pakistan-backed terrorist attack. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the violence, which led to several days of heightened military tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours—their most serious confrontation in decades.
Although both countries reached a ceasefire agreement last month, Shah stated that the water-sharing pact would not be revived. The treaty historically ensured vital water supplies to Pakistan’s agricultural sector, covering around 80 percent of its farmland through three major rivers that originate in India.
“We will divert the water currently flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing new canals. Pakistan will be deprived of water it has been receiving unfairly,” Shah said, referencing India’s desert state in the northwest.
Signed in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty allocated control of the Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas rivers to India, while granting Pakistan rights over the Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus rivers. It also established the India-Pakistan Indus Commission to oversee treaty implementation and resolve disputes.
Despite frequent tensions and even wars between India and Pakistan over the past six decades, the agreement has largely endured—until now, as India signals a decisive shift in its approach to one of the region’s most sensitive resources.
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