Speaking to a private news channel on Friday, Rana Ihsaan Afzal, the coordinator to the prime minister on commerce and industry, said New Delhi’s decision could have far-reaching implications not just for Pakistan, but for the entire region.
“If India does something like this and stops the flow of water to Pakistan, then China can also do the same thing,” he cautioned. “If things like this happen, the entire world will be in a war.”
India relies heavily on rivers originating in China, particularly from the Tibetan Plateau, including the Brahmaputra and Sutlej.
China’s expansive dam-building projects and the absence of a formal water-sharing treaty between the two countries have long raised alarm in India regarding potential water insecurity, especially during floods or droughts.
In 2016, Beijing temporarily blocked the flow of the Xiabuqu River, feeding into the Brahmaputra, following a militant attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Afzal stressed that India’s unilateral suspension of the IWT threatens food and water security for nearly 250 million people in Pakistan. He noted that under international water law, upper riparian countries are allowed to regulate river flows, not halt them altogether.
“This will not be easy at all,” he said, warning that such actions could unravel decades of globally respected water-sharing norms.
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, is widely regarded as a cornerstone of Indo-Pakistani cooperation, even surviving multiple wars and ongoing diplomatic hostilities. The treaty grants India control over the eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, while Pakistan retains rights to the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab.
However, in response to a deadly militant attack in IIOJK that claimed the lives of 26 civilians in the Pahalgam region earlier this week, India announced the suspension of the six-decade-old treaty. New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for the assault, a charge Pakistan has strongly denied.
“This is a matter of food security and human survival. The entire system of peaceful coexistence between upper and lower riparian states could be undermined,” Afzal said, urging international institutions and other lower riparian countries to raise their voices against India’s move.
He confirmed that Pakistan was actively engaging diplomatic channels, including outreach to friendly countries and coordination with the United Nations.