PAKISTAN’S WEAPONISATION OF THE TREATY

Systematic Obstruction of Indian Development

Since the Treaty’s signing, Pakistan has consistently used its dispute resolution provisions as a strategic tool to delay and effectively obstruct development rather than genuine dispute resolution. Virtually every significant hydropower project India has proposed on the Western rivers—even those explicitly permitted under the Treaty’s terms—has faced formal Pakistani objection, technical challenge, or referral to arbitration.Projects including Baglihar, Kishenganga, Pakal Dul, and Tulbul have all been subjected to prolonged Pakistani challenges. In several cases, Pakistan has acknowledged the potential benefits of Indian projects for regulated water flow—including flood moderation—while simultaneously opposing them. This pattern reveals that Pakistani objections are not genuinely about Treaty compliance; they are about preventing Indian development in Jammu and Kashmir, regardless of the legal merits.

The ‘Water War’ Narrative and its Deployment

Pakistan has simultaneously exploited India’s consistent compliance with the Treaty to construct and disseminate an international narrative portraying India as a potential ‘water aggressor’. Pakistani officials, academics, and diplomatic channels have repeatedly raised the spectre of India ‘weaponising water’ against Pakistan—citing the very Treaty that India has scrupulously honoured.

This narrative—posing the upper riparian as a threat—has proven remarkably effective with international audiences........

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