Pakistan’s Power Minister Awais Leghari condemned India’s decision to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty as an act of “cowardly, illegal water warfare,” escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, according to Reuters.
The move comes after gunmen killed 26 people in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam area on Tuesday, the deadliest assault on civilians in the region in two decades.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the suspension of the World Bank-mediated treaty on Wednesday, alongside plans to shutter the sole land border crossing and slash diplomatic staff in Islamabad. New Delhi also declared Pakistan’s defence attaches persona non grata, ordering their expulsion within a week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened an all-party meeting to coordinate India’s response, while protests erupted outside Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi.
The Indus Treaty, which allocates control of six rivers between India and Pakistan, has endured two wars and decades of hostility. Its suspension marks a perilous new low, with Islamabad denouncing the step as “reckless” and vowing to retaliate through its National Security Committee.
Relations have been fraught since India revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status in 2019, prompting Pakistan to downgrade diplomatic ties. India has long accused Pakistan of backing separatist militants in Kashmir – a charge Islamabad denies, insisting it advocates only for Kashmiri self-determination.
Tuesday’s attack strikes a blow to Modi’s claims of stabilising the region, where tourism had rebounded in recent years amid dwindling insurgent violence.
