OP SINDOOR ANNIVERSARY
New Delhi, May 07, 2026 : One year after Operation Sindoor, India has kept the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, reinforcing its position that terror and cooperation cannot coexist, while experts say the move marks a strategic shift and highlights long-standing concerns that the pact had limited India’s rightful utilisation of water resources for regional stability and development.
The Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the sharing of river waters between India and Pakistan, was suspended following the Pahalgam attack, marking a significant shift in bilateral water-sharing arrangements.
In his Independence Day speech in 2025, PM Modi had drawn the red line calling the treaty unust and saying that blood and water can’t flow together.
“India has now decided, blood and water will not flow together. The people have realized that the Indus Waters Treaty was unjust. Water from the Indus River system irrigated enemy lands while our farmers suffered. The Indus water treaty is unacceptable to us in the interest of our farmers, and in the interest of the nation,” the PM had said.
India has had to give up 80% of the water, especially water that would have been used by Jammu and Kashmir, was handed over to Pakistan. Although we are allowed to use some of the water for non-consumptive purposes and some for consumptive purposes, the dams that India constructs are subject to inspection by Pakistan, and their approval.
Seasoned former diplomat Dilip Sinha in a telephonic interview spoke about how India had been disadvantaged due to the treaty and that Islamabad’s attitude remains obstructive and highly negative due to which New Delhi not only had to delay its existing projects but also face renewed challenges at the behest of Islamabad.
“Our experience over the years in the treaty had been that Pakistan’s attitude was obstructive, extremely negative. Eventually, when it became very difficult for us, and in all cases, our position was upheld by the mechanisms that is there for under the treaty. But Pakistan nevertheless continued to follow that obstructive attitude. So it became very difficult for us to work according to the treaty and draw the limited benefits that we were entitled to,” he added.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on the understanding and in the hope that there would be cooperation between the two countries so that the common resources that we have could be exploited for mutual benefit, the former envoy said.
The Indus system comprises the main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan, with a small share for China and Afghanistan.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas ( Eastern Rivers), averaging around 33 million acre feet ( MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use.
The western rivers–Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab–carrying an average flow of around 135 MAF, were allocated to Pakistan, while India retained limited rights for domestic, non-consumptive, and agricultural use as specified under the treaty.
However, Pakistan continues to raise objections thus adding to its history of obstructions towards Indian developmental initiatives.
Sinha underlined how Islamabad misused the mechanisms created by India to butcher efforts towards cooperation between the two neighbours.
“Pakistan been unwilling to cooperate with us, been using every possible opportunity to promote terrorism against us and to harm our interests so every avenue that it could get hold of, through whatever mechanisms of cooperation we created, like cross LOC trade, cross LOC bus services, movement of people- all these were misused by Pakistan to promote terrorism against India. So we had to draw a linkage between terrorism that Pakistan was promoting and the avenues of cooperation that we had built up initially in the hope that the two countries would be friendly neighbors, who could exploit their natural resources to get mutual benefit”, Sinha said.
With the Indus Water Treaty now in abeyance, Sinha noted that the strategic use of water a a resource in not only the progress of Jammu and Kashmir but also in avenues such as agriculture, energy generation and employment.
The sentiment was also echoed by former Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Shesh Paul Vaid who told ANI in a telephonic conversation how a greater control over the water resources can strengthen the economic and strategic stability in the region.
Vaid said, “Water is everything. In fact, future wars will be on water. Water is important for the economic, agricultural development of the country.”
Calling it a “lopsided treaty” signed in the past which did not result in a fair distribution of water.
Indus Water Treaty has often been called by critics as the second partition of India after the Radcliffe line.
Reflecting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement how blood and water cannot flow together, which he made shortly after India launched Operation Sindoor against terror infrastructure in Pakistan, the former JK top cop called it completely correct.
“You cannot continue to shed blood here and ask for water. What is the compulsion on Pakistan to not give up on the policy of terrorism? Unless they (Pakistan) amend themselves and stop terrorism, they will not get water,” he said.
Recently, Pakistan concluded arguments at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, alleging that India’s large-scale hydroelectric projects on the western rivers, particularly on the Chenab, exceed storage and design limits under the Indus Waters Treaty. Islamabad cited projects like Kiru, Kwar, Baglihar, and Dul Hasti as examples of New Delhi’s alleged overreach, warning of reduced downstream flows.
The Ministry of External affiars has rejected the jurisdiction of this coourt saying it has no legal standing. India maintains that with the Indus Waters Treaty placed in abeyance, it is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the pact.
While Pakistan has time and again come after India citing humanitarian grounds to get the waters flowing, it turns a blind eye towards the series of cross-border acts of terrorism against the Indian soil, which have now resulted in New Delhi adopting the position of kinetic consequences to terror attacks.
One year down the line, India continues to keep its dams closed.
All gates of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Ramban district continue to remain closed even a year after the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which was put on hold following the Pahalgam attack.
On the way forward, former diplomat Dilip Sinha told ANI that while New Delhi has taken a decision to keep the treaty in abeyance, the ball lies in Islamabad’s court now. He urged for maximum utlilisation of sources on India’s end for the benefit of people.
“I personally believe that we should just scrap the treaty. There is no obligation for us to go into this treaty. There is no international law governing the sharing of waters for this so there is no reason for us to put ourselves under pressure and compel ourselves to go in for arrangements that are detrimental to our national interest, especially since Pakistan is not willing to reciprocate in any manner to our gestures. So we simply have to go ahead and utilise our resources to the optimum for the benefit of our people. If Pakistan wishes to cooperate with us, Pakistan is welcome to come forward and seek our cooperation, but I don’t see that attitude forthcoming from Pakistan…Pakistan is continuing the hostile attitude so I see no reason why we should even think in terms of doing anything to placate Pakistan,” he said.
Pakistan has routinely manipulated international legal mechanisms to divert global attention from its support of cross-border terrorism- Indus Water Treaty being a case in point.
However, India continues to exercise its sovereign right under international law to place the treaty in abeyance, linking its reinstatement to Pakistan’s verifiable cessation of cross-border terrorism support.
Earlier this year in the Parliament, President Droupadi Murmu underlined how keeping the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance wa part of India’s broader strategy to combat terrorism, signalling that all instruments of national power would be used to protect the country’s security.
As India marks the valour of its armed forces one the one year anniversary of Operation Sindoor which carved out a new benchmark in India’s fight against terrorism, a new parameter and new normal are in place, and a new reality for Pakistan to come to terms with.