![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/06\/Ata-tarar12.jpg\")
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has warned that India\u2019s 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for global transboundary water governance, stressing that the treaty cannot be unilaterally altered, revoked, rescinded or held in abeyance.<\/p>\n
Tarar made the remarks while addressing a ceremony organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad to launch a report on the IWT issue.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt cannot be unilaterally altered, revoked, rescinded or held in abeyance, for that matter, but even if there is a dispute, both the parties have to adhere to the terms and conditions of the treaty\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Tarar recalled an August ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), saying, \u201cThe court upheld Pakistan\u2019s stance, giving legitimacy and strength to the argument that there cannot be a unilateral attempt to change the status of this treaty\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Tarar said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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,\u201d he said, adding that the issue could have implications for other countries sharing water under similar frameworks.<\/p>\n
Tarar reiterated that Pakistan would continue to engage the international community and defend the country\u2019s vital national interests.<\/p>\n
He noted that when the treaty was signed, the signatories \u201cdid 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\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tarar further stated that Pakistan had approached the issue diplomatically: \u201cWe have engaged the international community and presented our point of view \u2014 legal and diplomatic \u2014 and as a nation-state, which respected the rights of others, in a manner that has been most effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reiterated that Pakistan\u2019s position on the IWT remained \u201cabsolutely clear,\u201d adding that the treaty was an \u201cinstrument of peace and stability for the region\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tarar also termed India\u2019s actions \u201chighly condemnable\u201d and unjustifiable at a \u201clegal, diplomatic, and moral level\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has warned that India\u2019s 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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":204139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"yoast_head":"\n