Pakistan Warns India Over Alleged Attempts To Restrict Indus Waters, Calling Water A 'Lifeline And Red Line'

Pakistan's Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik has accused India of attempting to control Pakistan's share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that Islamabad would respond firmly to any effort to deprive it of its allocated waters.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Malik alleged that India was trying to restrict water flows after New Delhi placed the 1960 treaty in abeyance following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 25 tourists and a local resident were killed.

"There is a tap being controlled by the prime minister of a neighbouring country. He says he will not let even a drop of water flow into Pakistan," Malik said.

Malik cites impact on agriculture, economy

Malik said 40-50% of Pakistan's population depended on agriculture and argued that restricting water supplies would affect the country's food security, employment and economy.

"Someone else [is trying to] control the entirety of the country's food security, 50 per cent of employment in the country and 25 per cent of the economy," he said.

Reiterating Pakistan's position, Malik said: "But there is also the question of justice. We will protect ourselves...Not that we've just announced it, but we've proved that if anyone lays a hand over our share of water, we'll cut off that hand."

He argued that rivers continued to flow across borders even without formal agreements.

"Does every upper riparian now have the right to stop the flow of water to the lower riparian? But we even have a treaty. How can the water be stopped here then? This is the case that we will present tomorrow," he said.

"The treaty exists," he asserted, adding that Tuesday's press conference was primarily about justice and rights.

"It will be decided what justice is internationally. […] It will be decided whether the children in lower riparian areas across the world have a right to water."

Pakistan reiterates treaty remains legally binding

Malik's remarks were reported by several Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn, while video clips of the press conference circulated on social media. However, the authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.

At the same press conference, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the Indus Waters Treaty remained legally binding and could neither be suspended nor amended unilaterally.

"Legally, Pakistan's stance has garnered support internationally, as the IWT cannot be unilaterally revoked, abolished or amended," Tarar was quoted as saying by Dawn.

He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir had repeatedly maintained that "water is our lifeline as well as our red line".