Pakistan has warned the United Nations that India's unilateral move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) poses a dangerous escalation that violates international law and threatens the survival of more than 240 million people, reports DAWN.
Speaking at a UN Arria-Formula meeting on the protection of water in armed conflict, Pakistan's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, called on the international community to act before the situation triggered a humanitarian catastrophe or further destabilised the region.
"This is a grave violation of international law, including human rights law, treaty law, and customary international law," said Ambassador Jadoon. "We strongly condemn India's unlawful announcement to hold the Treaty in abeyance and call upon India to strictly abide by its legal obligations and refrain from stopping, diverting or restricting rivers that are a lifeline for 240 million people of Pakistan."
He also pointed to "alarming" statements by Indian leaders, including remarks about starving Pakistan's population, calling them a reflection of "dangerous and perverse thinking."
Jadoon stressed that the Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, is a cornerstone of regional water cooperation and should not be politicised or militarised.
He urged the UN Security Council to monitor developments and take pre-emptive action where necessary.
"The Council must play a role by identifying situations where violations of international law, including International Humanitarian Law (IHL), could jeopardise peace and security or lead to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis," he said.
Pakistan's statement highlighted three key concerns: violations of legal prohibitions, obligations of warring parties, and the weaponisation of water. It stressed that international law, including human rights law and IHL, prohibits attacks on water resources and infrastructure, and that using water as a tool of coercion is destabilising and unacceptable.
"It is regrettable that one country, exhibiting malevolent designs, has chosen to weaponise water in addition to using it as a bargaining chip," the ambassador said.
Islamabad has grown increasingly alarmed over what it sees as India's attempts to bypass treaty mechanisms and marginalise the role of international mediators like the World Bank.
Ambassador Jadoon reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to global efforts to protect water resources in conflicts and called for a "resolute, principled and united stand" against attempts to politicise access to water.
Verbal clash at UN over civilian protection, terrorism allegations
In a separate session at the UN Security Council's debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Pakistani and Indian envoys engaged in a sharp exchange.
Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad accused the Indian military of targeting civilian areas during a recent clash, prompting a swift response from Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, who reiterated Delhi's allegations that Pakistan uses terrorism as state policy.
Pakistani delegate Saima Saleem responded forcefully, accusing India of engaging in "disinformation, deflection and denial," and of perpetrating terrorism itself.
"No amount of obfuscation can hide the facts. India brazenly kills and maims civilians in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, carries out blatant aggression against Pakistan by targeting civilians, and sponsors terrorism and assassinations in my country and across the globe," she said.
Ms Saleem also accused India of impeding river flows that are vital to Pakistan's population.
Highlighting a recent incident, she said India had refused to allow independent investigations into the Pahalgam attack, suggesting it had "something to hide."
She added that India continues to suppress Kashmiris through "state-sponsored terrorism," and referred to a recent Indian attack that allegedly killed 40 civilians in Pakistan, including women and children.
"India certainly has no credibility to lecture others on the protection of civilians," she told the Council.
While underscoring Pakistan's internationally recognised counterterrorism efforts, she accused India of backing terror groups like Fitna Al Khawarij (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan), the Balochistan Liberation Army, and its Majeed Brigade, which she claimed had carried out recent deadly attacks including one on a school bus in Khuzdar.
"If India is genuinely committed to peace and security and good neighbourliness," she said, "it should end its state-sponsored terrorism, cease its oppression of Kashmiris, comply with international law and UN resolutions, and engage in meaningful dialogue for the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute."
Comments