Shehbaz Sharif warned India of a decisive response over Pakistan’s water
India has kept the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance since April 2025
New Delhi has linked any future water arrangement to an end to terrorism
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday warned India that any attempt to block Pakistan's water in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty would draw a "decisive response", saying water was a "lifeline" for the country.
"You threaten to stop our water. If you attempt such a move, Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget," Sharif said while addressing an event in Islamabad marking International Youth Day, according to state media.
Sharif said Pakistan would make "no compromise" on its rights under international agreements. His remarks came amid continued tensions over the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the sharing of the Indus river system between India and Pakistan.
India's Position
India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. Indian government sources have since said the treaty will not return to operation in its existing form unless Pakistan permanently halts cross-border terrorism.
"It would be accurate to say that the Indus Waters Treaty in its present form will not function again," an Indian government source told Outlook India. Any future arrangement involving river-water sharing would have to be "done in a different form, not in the present form" and would depend on Pakistan ending terrorism, the source said.
New Delhi has said it is not currently considering an immediate withdrawal from the treaty but retains the right to terminate an international agreement if it considers it contrary to national interests.
Water As A Flashpoint
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 after negotiations brokered by the World Bank, gives India the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, while allocating the western rivers comprising Indus, Jhelum and Chenab primarily to Pakistan. The treaty also permits India to develop specified run-of-river hydropower projects on the western rivers.
Sharif's warning adds to a series of increasingly sharp statements from both sides over the future of the water-sharing arrangement, with Pakistan continuing to insist on its treaty rights and India linking any future framework to its concerns over cross-border terrorism.
