‘No cooperation until terrorism stops’: India defends suspension of Indus Waters Treaty
New Delhi/Washington: India has defended its decision to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), asserting that Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism has eroded the spirit and purpose of the decades-old agreement. India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, made the remarks in an article published in Newsweek.
Kwatra said India had honoured the treaty for decades, under which it has rights over the three eastern rivers while Pakistan receives the bulk of the waters of the three western rivers. However, he alleged that Pakistan had repeatedly violated the trust underlying the agreement through terror attacks, including those on the Indian Parliament, Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and most recently Pahalgam.
He further accused Pakistan of consistently obstructing India’s hydropower projects and opposing necessary technical amendments to the treaty. According to Kwatra, Pakistan’s water scarcity is the result of poor governance and mismanagement of water resources, not India’s actions.
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he reiterated that “terrorism and talks, terrorism and trade, water and blood cannot flow together,” adding that meaningful cooperation would be possible only after Pakistan dismantles its terror infrastructure.
Meanwhile, a Media India Group report described India’s decision to suspend the treaty following the Pahalgam terror attack as a strategically justified move, stating that Pakistan cannot expect cooperation while continuing to support cross-border terrorism.
