India working to stop Indus water flows to Pakistan, minister says

NEW DELHI: India is working to prevent water from flowing into Pakistan in the coming years following its suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, Minister of Water CR Patil has said.

Patil told India’s ANI news agency that work was underway on the directives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop water flows to Pakistan.

Pakistan maintains that the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty remains legally in force because it contains no provision allowing either country to withdraw from it unilaterally.

Islamabad has also warned that any attempt to block or alter the flow of rivers allocated to Pakistan under the treaty would be regarded as an act of war.

India has taken steps towards expanding its capacity to regulate or divert water from rivers covered by the agreement.

In May, the Indian government-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation issued a tender for a proposed tunnel that would transfer water from the Chenab River to the Beas Basin.

India’s Power Ministry said in January that sediment removal was being carried out at the Salal Power Station on the Chenab River following what it described as the termination of the Indus Waters Treaty.

However, water experts say India’s existing dams do not have sufficient storage or diversion capacity to completely stop flows into Pakistan. The current infrastructure mainly allows India to regulate the timing of water releases.

An official in Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir said construction on any major project would not begin before mid-2027 and would require at least five years to complete.