Indus Waters Treaty to Remain Suspended Until Pakistan Ends Cross-Border Terrorism: Jaishankar

Jaishankar: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday that the Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance until cross-border terrorism is ended in a credible and irreversible manner.

Speaking to the media, the Union minister said, “The Indus Waters Treaty is held in abeyance and will continue to be held in abeyance until the cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped... The only thing which remains to be discussed on Kashmir is the vacating of illegally occupied Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; we are open to that discussion.”

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India made it clear on Tuesday that the ceasefire agreement with Pakistan does not change the earlier measures including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.

Earlier in the day, The Times of India, citing official sources, reported that Pakistan had recently "appealed" to India to reconsider its decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, pointing to the shared water resources on which millions of people depend.

Quoting a senior source, the ToI report said, “The treaty was negotiated in a spirit of goodwill and good neighbourliness. That is why we persisted with it despite the fact that it was flawed and loaded against India. However, Pakistan's refusal to rein in the terrorists has knocked the very premise underpinning the treaty.”

The report added that the communication from Pakistan to the Indian government came a few days after the ceasefire understanding was reached between the two countries following a four-day military standoff.

Why was IWT put in abeyance?

After a terror attack that killed 26 mostly tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, India announced a range of stern retaliatory measures against Pakistan on April 23, including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960.

Other measures included closure of the integrated check post at Attari border and reduction of staff strength at the Pakistani High Commission in India.

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The Indus Waters Treaty, negotiated with the World Bank's assistance, provides the rules for sharing the Indus River and its five tributaries (Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum and Chenab), and requires the two nuclear-armed neighbours to maintain regular communication.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed the nation, for the first time since Operation Sindoor, of the suspension of the treaty. He noted that "water and blood can never flow together."

At a time of a press conference following the Prime Minister's announcement, Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry, reconfirmed India's position, indicating that New Delhi would keep "the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures support for cross-border terrorism."

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