Tit for tat !! India suspends Indus Water Treaty .... the game is on .... Nearly 90% of Pakistan’s irrigation depends on water from Indus basin

As a tit for tat response, the Modi Govt has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam terror attack, halting the supply of 39 billion cubic meters of water annually from rivers such as the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab originating from Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi will emphasise that 'abeyance is a temporary suspension', not a breach of the Treaty, and that cooperation can resume once Pakistan takes verifiable steps against terror groups operating from its soil.

The decision is poised to have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan. 

Look what happens to Muslim and Pakistan appeasing political party. 

Former Home Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram says: ‘Govt should weigh its options and choose the most effective one. Congress will support it’

The country is heavily dependent on the Indus River system for its agriculture, which forms the backbone of its economy. 

Nearly 90% of Pakistan’s irrigation depends on water from the Indus basin. 

Any disruption — or even the perception of future disruption — in water supply from the western rivers could exacerbate water scarcity, reduce crop yields, and fuel domestic unrest, especially in the already water-stressed provinces of Punjab and Sindh.

Flushing can help India de-silt its reservoir but then filling the entire reservoir could take days. Under the treaty, reservoir filling after the flushing has to be done in August -- peak monsoon period -- but with the pact in abeyance, it could be done anytime. 

Doing it when sowing season begins in Pakistan could be detrimental especially when a large part of Punjab in Pakistan depends on the Indus and its tributaries for irrigation.

The CCS concluded that Pakistan’s continued support for terrorism violates the very spirit of the treaty. 

Rather than a formal withdrawal, India is opting to freeze all treaty-related cooperation — including technical meetings, data sharing, and water flow notifications.

India suspends Indus Waters Treaty after Pahalgam attack

Pakistan heavily reliant on Indus River system for agriculture.

Suspension aims to pressure Pakistan over terrorism support

In a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan following the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 in abeyance with immediate effect.

The decision, taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of the country's highest decision-making body on national security, reflected an unprecedented shift in India's strategic posture, as the government declared that the treaty will remain suspended until Pakistan "credibly and irreversibly" abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.  

Brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty has long been hailed as a rare instance of sustained cooperation between India and Pakistan. 

Under the agreement, India was granted exclusive control over the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — while Pakistan was given rights over the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — despite their origins in Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir.  

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday praised the government for putting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 on hold following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people.

"Nehru ji, the hero of the agreement to give water to the snake, who, in order to get the Nobel Prize in 1960, shed the blood of Indians by giving them water of the Indus, Ravi, Beas, Chenab, Sutlej. Today, Modi ji has stopped food and water. 

Pakistanis will die without water. This is the 56-inch chest. Hookah, water, food and water will be stopped. We are BJP workers. We will kill them after torturing them," Dubey wrote in Hindi on X.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then-Pakistani President Ayub Khan.  

The treaty has endured through wars and diplomatic breakdowns, but the recent attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of security personnel and civilians, appears to have redrawn the lines.

Strategically, India's move is aimed at applying pressure on Pakistan's establishment by converting a long-standing symbol of cooperation into a lever of deterrence. For years, India refrained from linking water diplomacy with terrorism, but the Pahalgam attack seems to have redrawn that line.

The message is clear: Cross-border terror will now invite strategic costs. This shift could force Islamabad to reconsider its policy calculus, especially if international support for India’s position builds.

On the international front, Pakistan may seek the World Bank's intervention — the treaty's guarantor. However, India is expected to argue that no country can expect the benefits of a peacetime agreement while actively undermining peace.

India  is expected to accelerate development on a number of hydroelectric and storage projects along the western rivers — including Pakal Dul, Ratle, Kiru, and Sawalkot — all permissible under the treaty but often delayed due to Pakistani objections.