UN urges respect for water treaties after India’s IWT threat

The United Nations on Monday stressed the importance of sharing natural resources under mutually agreed treaties, a spokesperson said, in response to a senior Indian minister's warning that New Delhi would never reinstate the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.

India put into "abeyance" its participation in the 1960 treaty, which governs the usage of the Indus river system after 26 civilians in Indian-occupied Kashmir's Pahalgam were killed in what New Delhi described as an act of terror.

The treaty guaranteed water access for 80% of Pakistan’s farms through three rivers originating in India.

Pakistan categorically denied involvement in the Pahalgam incident, but the accord remains dormant despite a ceasefire, facilitated by US President Donald Trump, that ended the worst fighting in decades between the two South Asian neighbours.

On Saturday, Home Minister Amit Shah, in an interview with The Times of India, said India would take water that was flowing towards Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal.

"No, it (the treaty) will never be restored," he added.

Questioned about the Indian minister’s threat, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at the regular briefing in New York: "I haven’t seen that particular (statement), but, obviously, it is critical that natural resources be shared based on mutually accepted treaties."

Pakistan strongly condemned Shah’s assertion that the IWT "will never be restored," calling it a blatant breach of international law and a dangerous precedent.

"The statement reflects a brazen disregard for the sanctity of international agreements," Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said in a statement issued in response to Shah’s comments.

In his speech during a National Assembly session on Monday, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who led Pakistan's diplomatic team abroad to counter the Indian narrative, said that New Delhi's suspension of the IWT was illegal. "Threatening to block Pakistan’s water violates the UN Charter".

He warned that if India acted on such threats, "Pakistan will be forced to fight another war". He added that Pakistan’s air force had previously defeated India and would do so again if needed.