India Suspends Indus Waters Treaty After Pahalgam Attack: Following the April 2025 terrorist attack, India placed the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, linking its restoration to Pakistan’s credible cessation of support for cross-border terrorism, and is advancing projects such as the Chenab–Beas Link Tunnel and additional Chenab hydropower schemes.

Pakistan Views Actions as Existential Threat: Islamabad rejects the suspension as unilateral and illegal, warns of severe impacts on agriculture and water security, has sought arbitration, and has issued strong political and military rhetoric framing water restrictions as a potential casus belli.

Water Disputes Escalate Broader South Asian Tensions: The dispute intensifies hydro-political conflict amid climate change and rising demand, risks wider regional involvement (China, Bangladesh, Afghanistan), and illustrates how water infrastructure is increasingly securitized alongside traditional security issues.

The recent India’s proposal of diverting Chenab river’s overflow water to Beas river through the construction of the Chenab–Beas Link Tunnel, escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The Government of India declared the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT, 1960) “in abeyance” after the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April 2025.  India stated that the IWT would remain suspend until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” cease its support to cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has been blaming India of weaponizing water resources and arguing that construction activities on the Chenab River significantly destabilise existing flow of water received by its downstream region. It is causing damage not only to agricultural and other allied activities, but significantly affecting socio-economic life of the people utilising the water coming from Indus basin. Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, stated that Pak rejected India’s unilateral decision of suspension the IWT and it “remains valid, binding and operative”. Political leaders of Pakistan have been warned India for potential military escalation, even invokes nuclear deterrence. As they considered restrictions or diversion of river flows as a serious security threat to Pakistan economy and people as well. 

On the other hand, India’s Ministry of Foreign affairs, replied to Pakistan that nothing would change until stops backing cross-border terrorism. India’s Jal Shakti Minister, CP Patil stated that India put every effort to ensure that not a ‘single drop’ of water from Indus water flow to Pakistan.  The trans-boundary water conflicts between India and Pakistan may further intensify water diplomacy in rigid negotiation platform among other South Asian countries in the coming years. This trend is driven by increasing water scarcity, rapidly growing populations, rising water demand, and the adverse impacts of climate change on the availability and distribution of freshwater resources. 

India’s Chenab Dam Project and Pakistan’s Objections  

India and Pakistan has received water from the Indus River System under the IWT was mediated by the World Bank. The IWT had bifurcated Indus River System into the Western and the Eastern rivers. The Western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab) water allocated to Pakistan. India have restricted rights to use western rivers water for non-consumptive purposes, including domestic use, irrigation within prescribed limits, and the generation of hydroelectric power through run-of-the-river projects. India’s consumptive use of the western rivers is estimated to be approximately 3 to 4 percent of their total annual flow (Government of India, 1960; World Bank). The Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej) granted exclusive rights to India to use unrestricted water from these rivers. The IWT water allocation........

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