NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Thursday that Pakistan will not receive water from rivers over which India holds rights, reinforcing New Delhi’s recent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.
This announcement comes nearly a month after a deadly attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, which killed 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists. The attack prompted India to suspend the decades-old IWT, a water-sharing agreement brokered by the World Bank in 1960.
Modi warned that Pakistan would “pay a heavy price” for every terrorist attack originating from its soil, stating, “Pakistan’s army will pay it, Pakistan’s economy will pay it.”
The Indus Waters Treaty governs the distribution of water from six rivers flowing through India and Pakistan. About 80% of Pakistan’s agricultural water depends on three rivers that originate in India. Despite Modi’s warning, Pakistan’s Finance Minister has said the treaty’s suspension would not cause any immediate disruption to the country’s water supply.
Following the attack, India accused Pakistan of backing the militants involved—an allegation Islamabad strongly denies. The two nuclear-armed neighbors then engaged in their worst military conflict in nearly 30 years before agreeing to a ceasefire on May 10.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar affirmed that while the ceasefire is holding, military operations against terrorists would continue. “If the terrorists are in Pakistan, we will hit them where they are,” he said in an interview with Dutch news outlet NOS.
Since the attack, India has implemented several punitive measures against Pakistan, including suspension of trade, closure of land borders, and halting most visas. Relations between the two countries remain tense as both sides navigate a fragile peace.
Pakistan has yet to officially respond to the recent statements by Modi and Jaishankar.
India and Pakistan have a long history of conflict, including three wars, two of which were fought over Kashmir—a disputed region both nations claim in full but administer in parts.
