Pakistan slams India at UN for ‘weaponising water’, calls it a threat to livelihoods, regional stability
United Nations : Pakistan has lashed out at India at the UN for weaponising water by unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) over baseless terrorism allegations, calling New Delhi’s actions a direct threat to its agriculture, livelihoods and regional stability.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the exchange between the two neighbours took place at a high-level UN event held ahead of World Water Day on March 22. In a statement issued by Pakistan’s UN mission, the spat followed a video message by Pakistan’s Minister of Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik, who said India’s decision to place the treaty in abeyance undermined decades of cooperation and violates international law.
Indian Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, told the world body that New Delhi would continue to hold the treaty “in abeyance until Pakistan … credibly and irrevocably ends its support for all forms of terrorism” — an allegation that Islamabad has already repeatedly rejected as baseless.
In a Right of Reply, Pakistan’s Second Secretary Aleena Majeed dismissed India’s claims and reaffirmed Pakistan’s legal position. She rejected India’s attempt to link the water dispute to terrorism, calling such accusations “entirely baseless” and aimed at deflecting attention from India’s own record of state-sponsored violence and cross-border aggression.
“India’s attempts to deflect attention through unfounded allegations of terrorism cannot conceal its record of sponsorship of terrorism across its borders, perpetration of state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, global state-backed assassination campaign including in North America, and state patronage of violence against its minorities,” Majeed said. She also assailed India’s “sponsorship of terrorist groups” that have carried out attacks in Pakistan.
“The unilateral holding in abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty by India represents a grave departure from this legal and historical legacy,” she said, adding that a 2025 Court of Arbitration award confirmed the treaty remains fully in force and binding. “We reiterate our firm and unequivocal rejection of all attempts to weaponise water and to use it for political gains. Pakistan remains firmly committed to international law and to the faithful performance of treaty obligations,” Majeed said.
In his statement made before the envoy’s exchange, Malik highlighted: “For us, water is nature. Water is humanity. Water is our civilisation. For us, water is agriculture.” He emphasised that 25–30 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP and nearly half of its workforce depended on agriculture, which is entirely linked to water availability. He warned that the unilateral politicisation of water is not just a legal issue but a humanitarian one.
