Speakers at a high-level event of Pakistan\u2019s Mission to the United Nations on Friday stated that India\u2019s move to unilaterally hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance had raised serious doubts about the sanctity of international commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India held the IWT in abeyance<\/a> following the April 22 attack<\/a> in occupied Kashmir\u2019s Pahalgam that killed 26 \u2014 an incident New Delhi blamed<\/a> on Islamabad without evidence<\/a>. Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share an \u201cact of war<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friday\u2019s event was jointly organised at the UN headquarters in New York by the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN and the Muslim-American Leadership Alliance (Mala), according to a statement posted by the Mission on X earlier today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants of the event, which was on the theme of \u2018Indus Waters Treaty and Pakistan\u2019s Water Crisis: Challenges and the Way Forward\u2019, termed the Indian move a \u201cgrave violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law\u201d, the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attendees included diplomats, academics, policy practitioners, students, water experts and members of different organisations. Pakistan\u2019s Ambassador to the UN Asim Iftikhar Ahmad was the keynote speaker, while others who addressed the event included Mala chairperson Maha Khan, former World Bank official Dr Masood Ahmad and lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pakistan\u2019s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Usman Jadoon, in his concluding remarks, warned that undermining the treaty would have \u201cgrave\u201d humanitarian implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jadoon stressed that denial of critical data-sharing translated into \u201cfood insecurity, displacement, and heightened vulnerabilities \u2014 especially for women, children, and the poor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the event\u2019s discussions highlighted that the IWT, \u201cdespite current challenges, remains a binding and enduring international instrument\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Indus River system is not only Pakistan\u2019s lifeline but also a shared heritage of humanity,\u201d he was quoted as saying by the Mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid the floods last month, the Foreign Office (FO) noted<\/a> that India had shared flood warnings<\/a> with Pakistan but the alerts were routed through diplomatic channels rather than the Indus Waters Commission, as stipulated under the IWT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his keynote speech at the event, Ambassador Ahmad warned against the \u201cweaponisation of water\u201d, which would have serious consequences for regional peace and stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asserting that the IWT remains legally intact and recalling decisions by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), he noted that treating water as an instrument of political leverage is to deny people their most fundamental human right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, the PCA in The Hague issued<\/a> a \u201cSupplemental Award of Competence\u201d in the case, stating that India cannot unilaterally hold the treaty in abeyance. In August, the court affirmed<\/a> Pakistan\u2019s right to \u201cunrestricted use\u201d of the western rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also raised the issue<\/a> at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation\u2019s (SCO) summit in China, where his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi was also present, and called for a \u201cstructural\u201d dialogue on all outstanding disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese rulings leave no ambiguity \u2014 no party has the authority to unilaterally suspend or abandon this agreement. The Indus Waters Treaty is alive, and its provisions remain binding on the parties,\u201d he highlighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ambassador Ahmad also warned that the consequences of undermining the IWT are \u201cextremely grave in terms of human suffering\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWater \u2014 especially in arid regions like ours \u2014 cannot be withheld or manipulated by the upper riparian without serious consequences for the lower riparians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Underscoring that access to water was a basic right, the UN envoy said: \u201cWater scarcity heightens vulnerabilities, particularly for women and children. The human cost of undermining the Indus Waters Treaty is therefore borne disproportionately by those least able to endure it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that beyond the humanitarian dimension, India\u2019s actions carried \u201cgrave implications for peace and security\u201d, the Mission statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dawood Ghazanavi, a Supreme Court lawyer, spoke about the humanitarian consequences of IWT violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He pointed out that India\u2019s failure<\/a> to share hydrological data and key information with Pakistan \u201ccontributed to devastating displacements and mass migrations\u201d caused by the recent floods in Punjab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghazanavi said 45 per cent of Pakistan\u2019s livelihoods primarily depend on the Indus River, warning that water insecurity<\/a> threatens both survival and stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Mission\u2019s statement, Ghazanavi argued that India\u2019s dam constructions and unilateral actions violated international conventions. Describing water deprivation as a breach of basic human rights, the lawyer called on the World Bank to reassert its role in mediation and also sought the UN\u2019s involvement and mobilisation of civil society to demand compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maha, the Mala chairperson, highlighted that water security had been at the heart of Mala\u2019s work, given its \u201cprofound humanitarian implications for Pakistan\u201d. She said the water crisis was not a distant challenge but a \u201cpressing threat to livelihoods, stability and human dignity\u201d, according to the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAddressing it is not only urgent, but essential to ensuring peace and sustainable development,\u201d Maha was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\u2018Far-reaching consequences\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n