Pahalgam terror attack: Indus Waters Treaty kept at abeyance, India informs Pak

New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) In a significant development, India has decided to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, an agreement that has governed water-sharing arrangements with Pakistan for decades.

This move comes as a response to Pakistan's continued crossborder terrorism and failure to act on previous concerns raised by India.

This is one of the major responses from India after flagging ‘Pakistan links’ to Wednesday’s Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Indian innocent citizens. At least 26 people were killed by a group of terrorists in Baisaran meadows in the upper reaches of Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon.

The decision, which marks a turning point in South Asia's water diplomacy, was communicated through an official letter from India's Water Resources Secretary, Debashree Mukherjee, to her Pakistani counterpart.

On Thursday, Debashree Mukherjee formally notified Syed Ali Murtaza, Pakistan's Secretary of Water Resources, about India’s decision to temporarily halt the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. Explaining the rationale behind this action, Mukherjee wrote: “This is with reference to Government of India's notices sent to the Government of Pakistan seeking modification of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 (the Treaty) under Article XII (3) of the Treaty. These communications cited fundamental changes in the circumstances that have taken place since the Treaty was executed that require a reassessment of obligations under the various Articles of the Treaty read with its Annexures.”

The letter underscored several transformative changes, such as shifts in population dynamics and India’s advancing clean energy initiatives, which have altered the premises upon which the treaty was established.