Friday 09 May 2025 @ 12:20
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Urgent mediation to save the Indus Waters Treaty could be a route to de-escalation between India and Pakistan

EXPERT COMMENT

Tensions over water have contributed to the outbreak of hostilities, but potential mediation by the World Bank could provide an important chance for engagement.

India launched missile strikes on targets in Pakistan on 6 May, in what it says is retaliation for a militant attack in Kashmir that killed 26 civilians (Pakistan denies any involvement). The same day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he will also stop India’s water from flowing across international borders.

Modi’s statement did not mention Pakistan but comes after India said it will hold ‘in abeyance’ the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT), a crucial water-sharing agreement with Pakistan that manages the control of the Indus River basin. 

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri has said New Delhi will not reverse its decision on the IWT until Islamabad ‘credibly’ ends alleged cross border militancy. Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif responded that any move to block or divert water ‘will be considered an act of war.’ 

The vital treaty was considered an exemplar of resource diplomacy, having survived three wars in one of the world’s most volatile regions. Its suspension can only fuel tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbours, already at the brink of war.

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Original article link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/05/urgent-mediation-save-indus-waters-treaty-could-be-route-de-escalation-between-india-and

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