{"id":34231,"date":"2026-06-30T08:18:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T08:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=34231"},"modified":"2026-06-30T08:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T08:18:07","slug":"tarar-says-iwt-cannot-be-revoked-unilaterally-as-pakistan-plans-a-legal-technical-briefing-for-experts-on-the-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=34231","title":{"rendered":"Tarar says IWT cannot be revoked unilaterally, as Pakistan plans a legal, technical briefing for experts on the treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Climate minister warns anyone trying to deprive Pakistan of its water will face severe c<\/strong><\/em>onsequences<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"tribune\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday said the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) could not be revoked unilaterally as Pakistan prepared to present the treaty\u2019s legal and technical aspects to experts at the IWT 2026 seminar, scheduled to be held in Islamabad on Tuesday (tomorrow).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWater security is important to Pakistan,\u201d the information minister stressed and added that the country retains legal and environmental rights over the contractually bound waterway shared with the eastern neighbour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over six decades, India and Pakistan have amicably managed the Indus River system through the IWT transboundary water-sharing agreement signed on September 19, 1960. Last year in April,\u00a0India suspended the treaty<\/a>\u00a0in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarar, during a joint press conference with Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik, highlighted that the World Bank-brokered treaty included a detailed framework for resolving any outstanding issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read: <\/strong>Here’s what India’s suspension of Indus Waters Treaty means for Pakistan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He reminded the Modi-led government that water was not just the country\u2019s lifeline; it was also the country\u2019s \u201cred line\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said the government invited a host of water and legal experts from around the world to inculcate awareness about the rights of Pakistan over the Indus River against the backdrop of the agreement, saying a conference has been organised on Tuesday (tomorrow) to supplement the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone recognises the narrative of Pakistan, the information minister outlined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the occasion, the climate minister said the issue of unilateral suspension had been raised on several international forums, including the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPakistan\u2019s standpoint was upheld by the International Arbitration Courts,\u201d Malik underscored during the presser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the current water crisis suffered by the 240 million people of Pakistan can be explained metaphorically through the widely reported case of Iqbal Solangi, a farming resident of the Sindh-Balochistan border who suffered in the deluges of 2010, 2012 and 2022 while he constantly tried to build his life around the catastrophes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malik explained that agricultural land across Pakistan continuously suffered due to either floods or droughts: \u201cEither the land sinks under several feet of floodwater or is left cracked due to an immense shortfall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClimate change is not the only element to blame; the Indian prime minister is equally responsible,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The climate minister highlighted that PM Modi, with \u201chis hand on the tap\u201d, threatens to deprive Pakistan of every drop of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: ‘Not a single drop of water will flow to Pakistan’: Indian minister threatens to block water supply<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndia nefariously plans whether to flood or deprive Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further stated that India\u2019s water war adversely affects around 40- 50% of the people of Pakistan who depend on agriculture and, in the long term, shrinks the country\u2019s 25% economy relying on the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinting at Pakistan\u2019s latest diplomatic coup, the minister said Pakistan managed to garner immense support from the European Union and NATO during a recent seminar<\/a> held in Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read further:<\/strong> New Delhi rattled by Brussels water event<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one in the history of the world ever planned to stop rivers from flowing downstream, or the wind from crossing the border,\u201d the minister took exception to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that Pakistan had already declared that anyone trying to deprive it of its water would face severe consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is also the question of justice. We will protect ourselves,” Malik said while questioning whether every upper riparian now had the right to stop the flow of water to the lower riparian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Elsewhere in the world, water flows downstream unbothered even in the absence of a treaty, governed only by a convention… We have a treaty. How can the water be stopped then?” the climate change minister asserted, the case, he said, was bound by justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He outlined that Tuesday\u2019s conference was primarily about justice and rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concluding on the Indian policy of undermining the treaty with Pakistan, Malik said, it matched the defiant and genocidal policies of Israel, which overlooks all international treaties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indus Waters Treaty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of negotiations, facilitated by the World Bank<\/a>, the IWT was signed in September 1960 by then-Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru and former Pakistani President Ayub Khan. India was given control over the three eastern rivers\u2014Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas\u2014while Pakistan was assigned control over the three western rivers\u2014Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. According to the treaty, India is legally bound to allow the waters of the western rivers to flow into Pakistan, with only a few exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the treaty, Pakistan has unrestricted use of these rivers, while India is permitted to construct hydroelectric facilities on them under specific conditions. These projects must conform to design constraints outlined in the treaty\u2019s annexures, ensuring that they are “run-of-the-river” and do not significantly alter water flow or storage to Pakistan\u2019s detriment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan, which receives roughly 80 per cent of the water in the Indus river system, relies heavily on these rivers. Of the 16.8 crore acre-feet of water in the system, India is allocated around 3.3 crore acre-feet. At present, India uses slightly more than 90 per cent of its permitted share, leaving Pakistan deeply dependent on the remainder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This dependence is profound. The Indus river network\u2014comprising the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej\u2014forms the backbone of Pakistan\u2019s agricultural sector. It sustains a population of tens of millions, fulfilling 23 per cent of the country’s agricultural water needs and directly supporting nearly 68 per cent of rural livelihoods. Any disruption to this supply could trigger widespread consequences: reduced crop yields, food insecurity, and further economic instability, particularly in regions already burdened by poverty and an ongoing financial crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compounding the issue is Pakistan’s limited water storage capacity. Major dams such as Mangla and Tarbela have a combined live storage of just 14.4 million acre-feet (MAF)\u2014a mere 10 per cent of the country\u2019s annual entitlement under the treaty. In times of reduced water flow or seasonal variability, this shortfall in storage leaves Pakistan acutely vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Pakistan\u2019s heavy reliance on the Indus waters, the treaty does afford India certain rights. It allows the development of 13.4 lakh acres of irrigation in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. However, as of now, only 6.42 lakh acres are being irrigated in these Union Territories. Furthermore, the treaty permits India to store up to 3.60 million acre-feet of water from the western rivers\u2014although little to no such storage infrastructure currently exists in Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relations between the two nations took a marked downturn after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s special autonomy in 2019, followed by the Pahalgam attack in 2025. Since then, trust between New Delhi and Islamabad has eroded further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early June this year, Indian Minister of Water Chandrakant Raghunath Patil told the media that\u00a0India was strategising the disruption<\/a>\u00a0of the Indus River flow into Pakistan – an action backed by PM Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is certain, not a single drop of water<\/a> will go (to Pakistan) in the coming years,” the Indian minister had told ANI<\/em> news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Pakistan had warned the Modi-led government against any such measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/tribune.com.pk\/story\/2615567\/tarar-says-iwt-cannot-be-revoked-unilaterally-as-pakistan-plans-legal-technical-briefing-on-treaty<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climate minister warns anyone trying to deprive Pakistan of its water will face severe consequences Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Monday said the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) could not be revoked unilaterally as Pakistan prepared to present the treaty\u2019s legal and technical aspects to experts at the IWT 2026 seminar, scheduled to be held in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[24764,1125,24990,24991,31290,483,31291,24129,24992,23978],"class_list":["post-34231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-consequences-2","tag-india-2","tag-indus-water-treaty-3","tag-iwt-3","tag-legal-issue","tag-pakistan-2","tag-violation-by-india","tag-water-resources-2","tag-water-sharing-2","tag-world-bank-2","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34232,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34231\/revisions\/34232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}