India violating law through water terrorism, says Rabbani

ISLAMABAD: Former chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani has said India is violating the law with use of force by threatening Pakistan’s political survival through water terrorism and India’s interference in the flow of Chenab River constitutes an intentional wrongful act, places India in breach of Article 26 of Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

“On April 23rd, 2025, India unilaterally declared the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) to be ‘in abeyance’. A term neither recognised in the treaty law i.e. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) nor found in IWT itself,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Rabbani said under Article 57, VCLT, a treaty can only be suspended if it allows for such a suspension or with mutual consent of all the contracting parties. “Any stoppage, restriction or intervention in the flow of waters, in the rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Treaty, including, Chenab, constitutes a clear violation by India of Article III(2), IWT, 1969, which obligates India to refrain from interfering with the flow of the Indus, Jehlum and Chenab Rivers,” he added. The former chairman Senate said India’s interference in the flow of Chenab River, constitutes an intentional wrongful act, places India in breach of Article 26, VCLT, which codifies principles that agreements must be honoured.