{"id":34302,"date":"2026-07-03T05:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=34302"},"modified":"2026-07-03T05:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:57:12","slug":"pakistan-calls-for-a-binding-global-covenant-on-shared-rivers-amid-india-water-treaty-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=34302","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan calls for a binding global covenant on shared rivers amid India water treaty dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.pk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/n_670_395\/public\/2026\/06\/30\/4726539-1316079950.jpg?itok=6FafV78g\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A view of the Uri-II hydroelectric project dam on the Jhelum River, which flows from Indian Kashmir into Pakistan-administered Kashmir, near Uri in India-administered Kashmir&#8217;s Baramulla district, May 7, 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em>Climate minister says Indus dispute test of water rights for downstream countries worldwide<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Pakistan reiterates its position that India cannot unilaterally suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> Pakistan on Tuesday called for a binding international covenant governing shared rivers, arguing that India\u2019s decision to suspend a decades-old water-sharing treaty could set a precedent affecting billions of people living downstream around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The appeal came as Islamabad hosted an international conference on the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty after India announced last year it was placing the World Bank-brokered agreement \u201cin abeyance\u201d following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denied the allegation, rejected India\u2019s move as unlawful and maintains that the treaty cannot be suspended unilaterally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Indus Waters Treaty divides the waters of the six-river Indus basin between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. It grants India unrestricted use of the three eastern rivers \u2014 the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej \u2014 while allocating most of the waters of the three western rivers \u2014 the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab \u2014 to Pakistan, although India is permitted limited use on those rivers under the treaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan says any disruption to flows from the upstream western rivers would threaten agriculture, food security and the livelihoods of millions of people, and argues the dispute has implications far beyond South Asia because it could undermine the confidence of downstream countries worldwide that international water-sharing treaties will protect their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is not Pakistan\u2019s case,\u201d Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik said in his address to the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is the case and test for water rights for all downstream billions and billions and billions of people who live downstream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drawing parallels with rivers such as the Nile, the Danube and others flowing across Europe, Malik said accepting India\u2019s position would undermine confidence in international agreements protecting downstream states from unilateral upstream actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He urged the international community to move beyond voluntary declarations on transboundary water governance and establish an enforceable international framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere must be a covenant which has political consequences, which has economic consequences, which has diplomatic consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Pakistan says India cannot unilaterally suspend Indus Waters Treaty, vows response\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HA6Lo70ZXz8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his addresses, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said India had no legal authority to suspend the treaty on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Indus Waters Treaty cannot be amended, revoked, suspended or held in abeyance because it cannot be done unilaterally,\u201d Tarar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis pact came into being after mutual consensus and only mutual consensus can lead to any amendment or revision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tarar described the treaty as a lifeline for Pakistan\u2019s more than 240 million people, saying the Indus River underpins the country\u2019s agriculture, economy and livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said India\u2019s decision to place the treaty in abeyance lacked both legal and moral foundations because international agreements could not be disregarded at the convenience of one party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPakistan has consistently demonstrated its commitment to peaceful engagement and constructive dialogue and the faithful implementation of the treaty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut if an attempt is made to stop the water of Pakistan, our national leadership stands resolved to respond effectively to restore the water for the people of Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The daylong water conference has brought to Islamabad Pakistani and international policymakers, legal experts and water specialists to discuss the treaty\u2019s legal framework, regional security implications and the growing challenges climate change poses to transboundary water management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reference Link:- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.pk\/node\/2649062\/pakistan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.arabnews.pk\/node\/2649062\/pakistan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A view of the Uri-II hydroelectric project dam on the Jhelum River, which flows from Indian Kashmir into Pakistan-administered Kashmir, near Uri in India-administered Kashmir&#8217;s Baramulla district, May 7, 2025. Pakistan on Tuesday called for a binding international covenant governing shared rivers, arguing that India\u2019s decision to suspend a decades-old water-sharing treaty could set a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18410,"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":[1125,31357,30743,24990,24991,483,24992,23978],"class_list":["post-34302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-india-2","tag-india-stops-pakistani-waters","tag-indian-violation-of-treaty","tag-indus-water-treaty-3","tag-iwt-3","tag-pakistan-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\/34302","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=34302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34305,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34302\/revisions\/34305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}