NEW DELHI
\nIndia is working to ensure \u201cnot a single drop of water\u201d will flow into neighbouring Pakistan, the water minister has said, after New Delhi suspended a major treaty last year.
\nPakistan has previously said it would consider any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways as an \u201cact of war\u201d, and says that the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) remains in force as there is no mechanism to unilaterally withdraw from it.
\n\u201cIt is certain, not a single drop of water will go [to Pakistan] in the coming years,\u201d Minister of Water CR Patil told India\u2019s ANI news agency late Tuesday. Patil, speaking in Hindi, said that India is \u201cactively working on it\u201d after \u201cdirectives\u201d from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
\nThe treaty governs the use of water from six rivers, whose headwaters originate in India but flow into Pakistan as part of the Indus basin \u2014 a resource relied on by hundreds of millions.
\nLast month, Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Musadik Malik said that India was attempting to politicise shared water resources in violation of long-standing international commitments, including the Indus Water Treaty.
\nThe minister warned that efforts to undermine international water-sharing agreements could jeopardise the rights of downstream nations.
\n\u201cWater aggression is unacceptable,\u201d Malik said, stressing that no country should be allowed to use water as a weapon or suspend international agreements unilaterally while depriving other nations of their lawful water rights.
\nIndia said in May 2025 that it suspended its IWT membership, after accusing Islamabad of backing a deadly attack on tourists in India Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) \u2014 charges Pakistan categorically denied.
\nThe issue of water has remained a bitter point of contention since.
\nEarlier this month, Pakistan accused India of wanting to \u201cweaponise\u201d water, after two initiatives were announced by New Delhi on the section of the Chenab River it controls. In May, India\u2019s government-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation issued a tender notice for a proposed tunnel project that would transfer water from the Chenab River to the Beas Basin.
\nIndia\u2019s power ministry said in January it was undertaking \u201csediment removal\u201d at Salal Power Station on the Chenab River \u201cfollowing the termination of the Indus Waters Treaty\u201d. Experts say that India\u2019s existing dams do not have the capacity to block or divert water, and can only regulate timings of when it releases flows.
\nCutting flows would have serious implications for Pakistan\u2019s agriculture and overall economy, but any project would take several years before they have an impact. An official in IIOJK said that any work would \u201cnot be possible to start before mid-2027\u201d, and would take at least five years to complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India is working to ensure \u201cnot a single drop of water\u201d will flow into neighbouring Pakistan, the water minister has said, after New Delhi suspended a major treaty last year. Pakistan has previously said it would consider any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways as an \u201cact of war\u201d, and says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n