IWT cannot be unilaterally revoked or amended, info minister says

Lead

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan cannot be unilaterally revoked, abolished or amended and remains a legally enforceable agreement that is still in force. Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad alongside Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik, Tarar emphasised that the people of Pakistan have a right to water from the Indus system under the 1960 treaty. He said the international community has endorsed Pakistan’s position on water security and that India’s stance has not been accepted at various forums.

The remarks come amid continued Pakistani concern over India’s decision last year to place its obligations under the treaty in abeyance. That step followed an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, an incident New Delhi attributed to Islamabad. Pakistan denied the allegation and called for a neutral investigation. Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah and the country’s military leadership have separately underscored the treaty’s importance to national security and affirmed Pakistan’s determination to secure its water share.

Coverage Comparison

Reporting by Dawn has centred on official Pakistani statements delivered in Islamabad and Rawalpindi over consecutive days. Coverage of Tarar’s press conference highlighted his assertion that the treaty’s framework remains implemented and that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir have repeatedly described water as both a lifeline and a red line. Subsequent Dawn accounts of a seminar at the Jinnah Convention Centre recorded Tarar describing the Indus as central to Pakistani identity and the treaty as an instrument of peace and regional stability, while stressing that nearly 240 million Pakistanis hold an inalienable right to the river system’s waters.

Parallel Dawn reporting focused on Commissioner Shah’s address at the same seminar. Those accounts detailed his characterisation of the treaty as a matter of national security rather than mere hydrology, noting that more than 80 per cent of Pakistan’s arable land and a substantial share of GDP and employment depend on the Indus basin. Dawn also reported Shah’s disclosure that he has written four times since April to his Indian counterpart about fluctuations in the Chenab River’s flow, most recently the previous night, without receiving a response. He described the lack of data-sharing as creating risk and said Pakistan has continued to supply required information and seek meetings despite the treaty being held in abeyance.

A separate Dawn report covered the 276th Corps Commanders’ Conference chaired by Field Marshal Asim Munir. According to an Inter-Services Public Relations statement carried by Dawn, the army’s top brass reaffirmed a National Security Committee directive issued after India’s move on the treaty and expressed resolute commitment to take all measures necessary to ensure Pakistan’s rightful share of water. The same account noted the forum’s condemnation of human rights violations and demographic changes in Indian-administered Kashmir and its reiteration of support for Kashmiri self-determination under United Nations resolutions.

Across these Dawn reports the consistent thread is the Pakistani government’s and military’s insistence that the treaty remains binding and that water security is non-negotiable. Attribution rests entirely on statements by Tarar, Malik, Shah and the ISPR release; no independent technical assessment of river flows or Indian official response appears in the material.

Key Claims

• Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that the Indus Waters Treaty cannot be unilaterally revoked, abolished or amended and remains legally enforceable and implemented, as reported by Dawn.
• Tarar said the people of Pakistan have an inalienable right to water from the Indus River System and that water security has received international endorsement, according to Dawn.
• Tarar cited repeated statements by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir that water is Pakistan’s lifeline and red line, Dawn reported.
• Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah described the treaty as a national-security issue because the lives and livelihoods of more than 240 million people, more than 80 per cent of arable land, nearly a quarter of GDP and one-third of employment depend on the Indus basin, Dawn reported.
• Shah said he has written four times since April to his Indian counterpart about significant fluctuations in the Chenab River without receiving a response, and called the absence of data-sharing a strategic hazard, according to Dawn.
• Shah characterised the treaty as a conflict-prevention system and said Pakistan has continued to provide data and request consultations despite India’s decision to hold the treaty in abeyance, Dawn reported.
• An ISPR statement carried by Dawn said the Corps Commanders’ Conference, chaired by Field Marshal Asim Munir, reaffirmed commitment to all measures necessary to ensure Pakistan’s rightful share of water under government directives.
• The same ISPR statement, as reported by Dawn, said the forum rejected human rights violations and unilateral demographic engineering in Indian-administered Kashmir and reaffirmed support for Kashmiri self-determination in line with UN Security Council resolutions.
• Dawn reported that India announced last year it was placing IWT obligations in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack, an incident New Delhi blamed on Pakistan; Pakistan denied the charge and sought a neutral investigation.
• Dawn noted that an Indian minister had spoken of working to stop water flowing into Pakistan and that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had described 17 Indian projects on Indus waterways as tools of hydro-hegemony.