India slams Pak at UN over IWT, cites terror funding

India has hit out at Pakistan at the United Nations in Geneva, accusing it of politicising the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and undermining the trust required for its implementation through its continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack that resulted in 26 civilian casualties, the Indian Government took a series of diplomatic and strategic steps, including the decision to hold the IWT in abeyance.

However, when Pakistan was recently inundated by severe floods, India, in a humanitarian gesture, twice shared the hydrological data with Islamabad through diplomatic channels.

Delhi, Hry, Rajasthan to Indus water: Khattar

Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced on Friday that the water saved due to the suspension of the IWT with Pakistan would be made available to Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan within the next one to one and a half years.

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Speaking at a council debate, Indian diplomat Anamika Singh said New Delhi was “compelled to express deep concern over the persistent and deliberate attempt by a particular delegation to politicise the proceedings of this council”.

She said such actions not only undermined the integrity of the forum but also sought to deflect attention from more pressing global issues.

“The IWT, signed in 1960, was concluded in the spirit of goodwill and friendship. However, the world of 1960 is not the world of today. The grim reality of relentless state-sponsored cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan fundamentally erodes the environment required for honouring treaty obligations,” she asserted.

At the UN, the Indian side underlined that the escalating impact of climate change, the advancement of technology, and the growing imperative for sustainable clean energy “now compel a serious re-evaluation” of the treaty’s relevance and applicability in today’s context.

Anamika said, “A party that consistently and wilfully violates the core tenets of a treaty should not accuse others of non-compliance.”

Emphasising that international cooperation cannot be built on duplicity, she urged the council not to allow itself to be misused. “The council must not allow itself to be used as a platform for diversion and distortion. It must instead recognise that lasting cooperation is rooted in trust and not terror,” she said.

The IWT, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates the waters of the eastern rivers (the Ravi, Beas and the Sutlej) to India and the western rivers (the Indus, Jhelum and the Chenab) to Pakistan, while allowing both sides limited usage of each other’s share.