The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty Is Under Strain: India has placed the treaty in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack, arguing it needs updating due to climate change, population growth, energy demands, and security concerns, while Pakistan views the move as a threat to its water security as a lower riparian state.

The Treaty’s Core Strength Was Practical Cooperation Despite Rivalry: For over six decades, it provided a rules-based framework for managing shared rivers that endured wars and political breakdowns because water security affects millions of livelihoods, agriculture, and economies in both countries.

The Challenge Is Modernization Without Weaponization: Rather than discarding the treaty, both nations should pursue dialogue to update it with better data-sharing, climate adaptation, environmental safeguards, and joint management — preserving the principle that water is too critical to become another battlefield in their broader conflict.

For more than sixty years, the Indus Waters Treaty has been one of the few constants in the troubled relationship between India and Pakistan. The two countries have fought wars, endured diplomatic breakdowns, and remained locked in a rivalry shaped by history and security concerns. Yet through all of this, they continued to cooperate on one issue that affects the lives of millions: water.

The treaty was never a symbol of friendship. It was something more practical: an agreement between rivals who understood that some issues were too important to be consumed by politics.

That understanding is now........

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