Tarar warns India’s unilateral IWT suspension may have global implications
Says binding water treaties cannot be unilaterally placed in abeyance
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has warned that India’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance could have wider implications for global transboundary water governance, stressing that the treaty cannot be unilaterally altered, revoked, rescinded or held in abeyance.
Tarar made the remarks while addressing a ceremony organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad to launch a report on the IWT issue.
Tarar said that the IWT was legally binding upon both parties and contained provisions that prevented either side from unilaterally changing or terminating the treaty.
“It cannot be unilaterally altered, revoked, rescinded or held in abeyance, for that matter, but even if there is a dispute, both the parties have to adhere to the terms and conditions of the treaty”, he said.
Tarar recalled an August ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), saying, “The court upheld Pakistan’s stance, giving legitimacy and strength to the argument that there cannot be a unilateral attempt to change the status of this treaty”.
“We are a peaceful nation, but we cannot allow India to weaponise water because it is the basic right of the 240 million people of Pakistan,” Tarar said.
He warned that if a state could unilaterally place a binding international water treaty in abeyance despite established dispute-resolution mechanisms, it could set a wider precedent for transboundary water governance.
“If a state can unilaterally put a binding international water treaty in abeyance despite established dispute resolution mechanisms, the implications extend to transboundary water governance across the world,” he said, adding that the issue could have implications for other countries sharing water under similar frameworks.
Tarar reiterated that Pakistan would continue to engage the international community and defend the country’s vital national interests.
He noted that when the treaty was signed, the signatories “did not envisage that there would come a time a few decades down the line when conditions in India would deteriorate so much that they would be legally ignorant, morally bankrupt and devoid of ethics”.
Tarar further stated that Pakistan had approached the issue diplomatically: “We have engaged the international community and presented our point of view — legal and diplomatic — and as a nation-state, which respected the rights of others, in a manner that has been most effective.”
He reiterated that Pakistan’s position on the IWT remained “absolutely clear,” adding that the treaty was an “instrument of peace and stability for the region”.
Tarar also termed India’s actions “highly condemnable” and unjustifiable at a “legal, diplomatic, and moral level”
