Amit Ranjan
On 22 April 2025, militants belonging to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, killed 26 and injured about 17 tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). India responded with several strong measures against Pakistan, including the decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) “… in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.
Pakistan responded with its own measures against India. On India’s decision on the IWT, Pakistan countered, “…Water is a Vital National Interest of Pakistan, a lifeline for its 240 million people, and its availability will be safeguarded at all costs. Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an Act of War and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of National Power.”
Consequent to its decision, India is now not obliged to abide by the terms of the IWT – it can stop sharing water flow data with Pakistan, flush reservoirs and no longer be subject to hydro project design or operation-related restrictions. Annually, on an average, around 135 million acres feet (MAF) of water flow in the western rivers – Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. The IWT allows India to store 3.60 MAF (current capacity is around one MAF), develop 1.34 million acres of irrigation land in J&K and Ladakh (as of 2024, the total irrigated land was around 642,000 acres) and build run-of-river dams.
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