Key Points
- India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty after the April 23, 2025, terror incident
- Lack of real-time hydrological data has worsened flood forecasting and disaster response
- Farmers in Pakistani Punjab suffered severe losses from Chenab River flooding
ISLAMABAD: India’s over-a-year-long unilateral suspension of the Indus Water Treaty to weaponise water against Pakistan has echoed in European media as an alarming threat to the fragile stability in South Asia.
A report by the French daily Le Monde, titled “The Water Weapon,” has described the unilateral and illegal suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty as a dangerous inflexion point for water governance in South Asia
It has warned that it could undermine one of the last remaining legal frameworks stabilising relations between India and Pakistan.
The newspaper situates the development in the aftermath of the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, which India used as an excuse to hold the treaty in “abeyance.”
“India has increasingly treated water management as a lever of political pressure,” the report said.
It characterises this shift as a departure from the technical and insulated spirit in which the Indus Waters Treaty was originally designed.
It refers to the treaty having no clause allowing any unilateral suspension, amendment and/or revocation.
Le Monde underscores that the treaty cannot be unilaterally suspended or altered, noting that any revision requires mutual consent between the two countries.
It recalls that international arbitration mechanisms have repeatedly affirmed the agreement’s continued legal validity, even in periods of heightened political tension.
The report highlights growing concern in Pakistan over disruptions in hydrological data sharing.
The report quoted the government of Pakistan, arguing that gaps in timely information have weakened flood forecasting systems and increased exposure for downstream communities dependent on seasonal river flows.
It cites severe impacts in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where farmers have reportedly faced sudden flooding, crop destruction and the deposition of sand layers that have rendered farmland unproductive.
Communities along the Chenab River are also reported to have lost livestock, harvests and household possessions due to unexpected surges in water levels.
Le Monde notes that Pakistan views any attempt to restrict or divert river flows as a serious escalation.
The French paper quoted officials framing such actions in terms of national survival, food security and basic rights.
It adds that more than eighty per cent of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on the Indus basin system, giving the treaty strategic importance far beyond bilateral diplomacy.
The analysis draws an overall regional parallel, stating that India itself faces upstream water concerns involving China in the Brahmaputra basin.
It suggests that competing vulnerabilities across major Asian river systems underline the shared nature of water insecurity in the region.
The report concludes that climate change, glacial melt and rising population pressures are intensifying competition over water resources, making cooperation on data transparency and flow management increasingly urgent.
It warns that unilateral approaches to transboundary rivers risk setting a precedent in international water law and could further complicate downstream rights in already stressed river basins.
