India’s border water disputes with neighbouring countries pattern of regional destabilization
Islamabad: In its quest to assert regional supremacy and fuel domestic nationalism, India has increasingly weaponized historical treaties, maritime boundaries, and cross-border water flows undermining peace and sovereignty across South Asia.
According to Kashmir Media Service, India’s relentless pursuit of regional hegemony has once again been exposed through the politically motivated revival of the Katchatheevu Island dispute with Sri Lanka. With upcoming state elections in Tamil Nadu, the Indian ruling class and regional parties have begun resurrecting historical treaties for populist gains, undermining international agreements and threatening bilateral stability.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), backed by the radical clergy Madurai Aadheenam, has openly demanded the revocation of the 1974 Indo-Lanka Maritime Agreement, which lawfully transferred Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka. Even more dangerously, the Aadheenam has claimed that PM Modi would “reclaim” the island and carve out a separate “Tamil nation” a direct threat to Sri Lankan sovereignty.
While these extremist claims have been criticized by that India’s ruling BJP, the party itself is exploiting the issue through soft endorsement of nationalist sentiments.
During Prime Minister Modi’s 15 May 2025 visit to Colombo, the signing of a defence cooperation MoU with Sri Lanka sparked DMK outrage, as Tamil politician, party Gen Secy V. M. Dravida interpreted it as complicity in Sri Lanka’s “aggression” against Indian fishermen, a claim deliberately ignoring the repeated illegal intrusions by Indian trawlers into Sri Lankan waters.
The 1974 and 1976 bilateral agreements between India and Sri Lanka legally recognized Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory and barred Indian fishermen from entering Sri Lankan waters.
India has violated this agreement consistently by failing to curb illegal fishing, forcing the Sri Lankan Navy to respond defensively. Recently, fishermen from Pamban (Tamil Nadu) were attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy & their boat was damaged. [Ministry of External Affairs India; UN Law of the Sea, 1974–1976]
India’s belligerent posture toward its other neighbours follows a similar pattern breaking treaties, politicizing borders, and using water and land disputes as leverage for domestic chauvinism:
In 2020, India unilaterally opened a road through Lipulekh, a territory claimed by Nepal, triggering diplomatic fury in Kathmandu. Nepal responded by publishing an official map including Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura as sovereign Nepali land.
Rather than resolve the issue diplomatically, India has refused bilateral talks, using its military and infrastructure influence to assert dominance.
Despite promises, India continues to stall the Teesta River water-sharing agreement, depriving millions in Bangladesh of agricultural and drinking water.
While the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement resolved territorial enclaves, India’s water monopoly tactics and border killings by the BSF persist unabated.
India has militarized the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and engaged in repeated provocations in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. The 2020 Galwan Valley clash, resulting in dozens of fatalities, exposed India’s willingness to gamble regional peace for nationalist rhetoric. Simultaneously, India blames China for withholding Brahmaputra water flow data while refusing transparency over its own dam projects.
India’s repeated violations of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a World Bank-brokered agreement, reflect a pattern of coercion. Indian hydropower projects on Kishanganga and Ratle rivers are designed to control downstream flows, threatening Pakistan’s water security.
India’s refusal to engage in neutral arbitration and its attempts to unilaterally alter IWT mechanisms are a violation of international law.
India today represents not a responsible regional power, but a destabilizing force whose ambitions threaten the sovereignty and security of every neighbor it borders.
