The whole paradigm of international law has changed in recent years. Given the current global situation, in which conflicts have thrown off the normal course of international affairs, it is important for Pakistan to grasp the reality that trying to manipulate and maneuver the narrative on the Indus Waters Treaty—blaming India for choking its river waters under the World Bank-brokered treaty of 1960—will only complicate its problems. There is a simple way out of the crisis it is facing: stop cross-border terrorism into India to get some concessions on the water-distribution mechanism.

In recent months, it has intensified its anti-India campaign at international forums, perhaps with the hope that the global community will intervene and prevail upon India not to change the course of the treaty, the waters of which form the lifeblood of the country in all senses of the word. There is an element of truth that the waters flowing to Pakistan under the provisions of the treaty are a lifeblood for its population, but the real origin of this crisis cannot be overlooked: its continuous and undiminished support to cross-border terrorism into India. The other point it continues to miss is that the international community cannot talk to India at Pakistan’s behest to release all the waters without Pakistan changing its attitude.

Pakistan is propagating that the international community should intervene and force India to reverse its decision of the unilateral suspension of the treaty, as the waters flowing through these rivers are “the lifeblood for its survival as a nation and its future generations.” In the given global situation and the standing that India holds in international affairs, Pakistan’s attempts to bring in international pressure on Delhi to save itself from the catastrophic consequences of its acts of cross-border terrorism are grossly misplaced. The........

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