River Indus and Sindh have lower riparian rights under customary international law as well as the Madrid Declaration; the Declaration of Montevideo; the Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers; and the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. Environmental rights are now recognised as a fundamental right under Article 9A, after the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

In 2025, World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan expressed serious concerns over the Cholistan Canals Project, stating that it is a resource-driven conflict that reemphasizes the urgent need for the implementation of a national water policy based on equity, sustainability and investment in conservation and efficiency measures.

To resolve the Inter-Provincial water dispute, the Water Apportionment Accord of 1991, apportioned specific shares of total allocable water to provinces, and after all the provinces signed it, it was approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI), and the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) was established in 1992, but instead of resolving the conflict, it approved the Cholistan Canal Project, violating Sindh’s lower riparian rights. 

IRSA’s composition was then challenged before the Division Bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC),........

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