Pakistan urges UNSC to push India to restore Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan has urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to address India’s suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning of “grave” security, environmental, and humanitarian risks for 240 million people.

A letter from Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, addressed to Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei of Bahrain, which hold the 15-member Council’s presidency for the month of April, draws attention to India’s “illegal” decision to hold the IWT in abeyance one year after its suspension amid heightened political tensions with Pakistan.

The letter was handed over to the Security Council president by the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday, according to a press release issued by the Pakistani Mission.

DPM Dar urged the Security Council to take cognizance of the alarming situation and call on India to restore the full implementation of the IWT, resume all treaty-mandated cooperation and data-sharing without delay, desist from any form of water coercion, and comply fully with its international obligations in good faith.

In this regard, Ambassador Asim also briefed the Security Council president on the “regurgitation of baseless allegations and propaganda by India at a time when Pakistan is engaged in serious mediation efforts to promote regional and international peace and security.”

The Pakistani envoy also underscored that the unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute – a longstanding item on the Security Council’s agenda – was the root cause of instability in South Asia that necessitated a just and lasting settlement in accordance with relevant Council’s resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.

The 66-year-old treaty governs the distribution of waters from the Indus river system, allocating the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, primarily to Pakistan, which depends on them for most of its agriculture. The agreement has long been seen as one of the most durable arrangements between the two countries, surviving wars and decades of hostility.

However, India announced on April 23, 2025 it was holding the treaty in abeyance. The move came as India, without producing any evidence, accused Pakistan of being behind a militant attack in Indian-Occupied Kashmir. Pakistan categorically denied any involvement it in the attack, which led to a brief but intense military conflict between the two countries in May 2025.