As Pakistan deals with the protests in Azad Kashmir by the Awami Action Committee, India's Minister of Water, CR Patil, has dropped a bombshell.

"It is certain - not a single drop of water will go [to Pakistan] in the coming years. India is actively working on it after directives from Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Patil's words, as quoted by the ANI news agency on June 10, point to unilateral river engineering by India. His remarks essentially unmask India's long-term planning - not necessarily designed only to choke Pakistan's waters. India, it seems, has already set up the legal framework to make this possible.

Pakistan's response? As usual Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi reiterated that "any attempt to block or substantially curtail water that is vital to the livelihood, agriculture and well-being of over 250 million Pakistanis would be a deeply irresponsible act."

Three important developments since early May point to Pakistan's water woes.

On May 20, 2026, New Delhi floated tenders for an 8.7-kilometre-long tunnel in Himachal Pradesh, designed to divert at least two million acre feet annually from Chandra River - a major tributary of the Chenab - into the Beas basin. The project followed India's suspension of cooperation under the Indus Waters Treaty framework after the April 2025 terrorist attacks in Pahalgam.

One wonders how India and the Western media would have reacted had China announced it was building infrastructure to cut........

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