DEPUTY Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that at least 17 projects by India on waterways forming part of the Indus River System would give New Delhi the “tools for hydro-hegemony”. His statement has come at a time when water and the Indus Waters Treaty remain a contentious issue between India and Pakistan, following New Delhi’s unilateral suspension of the accord last year — a move that followed a brief military conflict between the two sides in May 2025. Dar’s key-note address was played at a seminar titled “Transboundary Water Resources: A Weaponized Global Common”, which was jointly organized by Pakistan’s embassy in Brussels and the Centre for European Policy Studies.
The water issue is assuming dangerous dimensions and poses a serious threat to the peace, stability and progress of the region in view of declared strategy of India to use water as a weapon against Pakistan in clear violation of its obligations under the World Bank-brokered Indus Basin Treaty. Indian intents were highlighted by a recent statement of its Water Minister CR Patel who said his country was working to ensure “not a single drop of water” would flow into Pakistan. Time is passing quickly and Pakistan cannot afford to sit idly when India is comprehensively and effectively implementing a plan to deprive Pakistan of its share of water under the international treaty. One year has elapsed in a status quo and five to ten years down the road, Pakistan will start feeling the pinch of India’s water hegemony with serious consequences for its agrarian economy as well as hydel power generation. Therefore, the Foreign Office has done well by organizing a seminar in close coordination with the Centre for European Policy Studies, which will go a long way in sensitizing global opinion-makers about India’s designs and threats of India’s policy for regional peace as Pakistan has unequivocally declared that any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways would be considered an “act of war”. This position was reiterated by the Deputy Prime Minister who emphasized that peaceful coexistence cannot be taken for granted, must be sustained through respect for the treaties, agreements and multilateral frameworks that enable states to manage differences through cooperation rather than confrontation. He pointed out that India has followed up its belligerent statements with illegal initiatives including the Sawalkot, Kirthai, Kwar hydroelectric projects on Chenab River in occupied Kashmir; expansion of Baglihar and Salal hydroelectric projects also built on Chenab in occupied Kashmir and diversion projects on Indus, Chenab and Ravi rivers. No doubt, India’s stated policy to intentionally deprive 240 million people of their rightful access to water represented a catastrophe in the making of unparalleled magnitude and it is high time for the world to wake up to the unfolding conflict that has narrow options for peaceful resolution given the stubborn attitude of New Delhi.
