DEPUTY Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday warned that any attempt to deprive Pakistan of waters “rightfully allocated to it” under the Indus Waters Treaty would have “profound consequences for regional peace and security”. In his virtual address to a Washington seminar on “The Indus Waters Treaty: South Asian Security at the Crossroads”, he declared that Pakistan would strongly safeguard its “legitimate rights and interests” under the treaty and international law.
Pakistan’s consistent efforts to highlight dangerous consequences of India’s stubborn attitude towards the water issue will surely help sensitize the international community and send right kind of message to New Delhi, which is misusing the water leverage to pressure Pakistan after India’s ignominious defeat in May 2025 war. Pakistan is organising international seminars both in Pakistan and abroad to brief relevant circles and leaders of public opinion across the globe about India’s belligerent posture as it is showing scant respect for diplomatic and negotiated solution of the issue. Ishaq Dar is known for forcefully putting across the country’s point of view on important issues and it is also evident from the key-note address he delivered to the seminar in Washington. He proposed three principles for the way forward: that the treaty is “respected and implemented in letter and in spirit”, that all questions, differences and disputes be addressed through its mechanisms and that Pakistan and India restore and strengthen “technical engagement, transparency and data-sharing”. Dar was not asking for concessions from India as these are requirements of an agreement solemnly concluded by two sovereign states and sustained for more than six decades. As pointed out by the Deputy Prime Minister, Indus remains a source of life, livelihood and civilisation and should not be made a fault line for confrontation.
