India’s Indus Treaty Suspension Sparks Water Alarm in Pakistan
Pakistan’s opposition leaders have sounded the alarm over a looming water crisis after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in the aftermath of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam , Jammu and Kashmir. The move, part of a series of punitive measures under India’s Operation Sindoor , has intensified diplomatic and ecological tensions across the border. Image Source: Wikipedia/Indus River Addressing the Pakistani Senate, Syed Ali Zafar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party warned that the suspension of water sharing under the treaty poses an existential threat to Pakistan’s agricultural economy. “The Indus Basin is our lifeline,” Zafar said. “Three-fourths of our water originates from outside our borders. If this crisis is not resolved, the country could face widespread hunger.” The Indus Waters Treaty , brokered by the World Bank in 1960, has long governed water-sharing rights between India and Pakistan. Under its provisions, Pakistan controls three western rivers—Ind...