India has contacted Pakistan for the second time within a day to warn of potential flooding, this time in the Sutlej River, diplomatic sources confirmed on Monday. Earlier, New Delhi had issued a similar alert regarding the Tawi River in Jammu.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad conveyed the Sutlej warning to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sharing details of possible high water flows. Officials noted that India has previously provided such data during flood emergencies.
Pakistan cites treaty violation
The Foreign Office (FO), however, emphasised that India had bypassed the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) framework by issuing alerts via diplomatic channels instead of the bilateral commission. The FO reaffirmed that India is bound by the treaty and called its unilateral suspension of the pact a serious breach of international law with grave implications for peace in South Asia.
Background of tensions
The alerts come against the backdrop of heightened hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. In April, 26 people were killed in Pahalgam, IIOJK, an attack India blames on Pakistan, an accusation Islamabad strongly rejects.
Following the incident, New Delhi announced it was holding the IWT in abeyance, later escalating to a military confrontation in May, described as the heaviest fighting in decades, before a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect.
Despite surviving three wars, the IWT now faces unprecedented strain. India has hinted at projects to curb water flows into Pakistan, while Islamabad maintains that any attempt to divert or block its allocated rivers would be treated as an “act of war.”
What is the Indus Waters Treaty?
Signed in 1960 under World Bank mediation, the IWT divides river usage between the two nations:
India controls three eastern rivers: the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi.
Pakistan controls three western rivers: the Indus, the Jhelum, Chenab.
The pact includes robust dispute resolution mechanisms, but does not permit unilateral suspension or termination by either side.
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