Pakistan's ambassador to US urges India to comply with Indus Waters Treaty, rescind unilateral measures

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, has urged India to comply with the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and rescind its unilateral measures. Sheikh criticized an article by India's Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, which portrayed the IWT as an asymmetrical arrangement that gave India undue concessions. Sheikh stated that India has continued to advance this narrative since its April 2025 pronouncement to hold the Treaty "in abeyance."

According to Sheikh, the IWT is a binding international agreement reached after lengthy negotiations, not a gift from India to Pakistan. He explained that India secured the use of the rivers Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, while Pakistan's rights to the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab were protected. Sheikh emphasized that Pakistan relinquished its historical reliance on the Eastern Rivers and undertook extensive irrigation system modifications to align with the new water allocation.

Sheikh argued that describing the IWT as unfair disregards the carefully calibrated balance between upstream and downstream states. He highlighted that India can construct run-of-river hydroelectric plants on Western Rivers, as permitted by the Treaty, subject to design and operational criteria. Sheikh clarified that Islamabad's recourse to dispute-resolution mechanisms under Article IX is not obstruction but an exercise of rights afforded by the Treaty.

He stressed that India cannot reasonably claim the benefits of the Treaty's hydropower development provisions while ignoring the technical limitations and dispute-resolution procedures integral to the same framework. The Court of Arbitration has reaffirmed the Treaty's validity and the binding nature of its safeguards, including the May 2026 Supplemental Award. Sheikh reiterated that the IWT contains no provision allowing either party to unilaterally suspend it or place it in abeyance.

He emphasized that the IWT remains valid, operative, and binding, and any unilateral actions by India cannot alter its legal status or extinguish the rights and obligations arising under it. Sheikh called for India to rescind its unilateral measures, return to full compliance, and engage through established Treaty mechanisms. He warned that undermining the Treaty would jeopardize certainty, predictability, and peace in the region, and Pakistan remains committed to its obligations under the Treaty, protecting its agricultural, food security, livelihoods, and economic well-being reliant on the Indus Basin.