Islamabad, Feb 2 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that water security in the region depends on responsible and lawful trans-boundary cooperation, expressing concerns over India’s “action” regarding the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
A day after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 last year, India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan that included putting IWT of 1960 in “abeyance”.
The treaty, brokered by the World Bank, has governed the distribution and use of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan since 1960.
“Water security in our region depends on responsible and lawful trans-boundary cooperation. Pakistan remains concerned over unilateral actions by India affecting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960,” Shehbaz said in his message on World Wetlands Day.
He said the suspension of treaty mechanisms, including the sharing of hydrological data, undermines trust and predictability when climate pressures require greater cooperation.
“Water must never be used as a tool of coercion, and the weaponisation of water as an instrument of war against Pakistan must be rejected, as the disruption of river flows threatens millions of lives, livelihoods, and food systems in a country reliant on the Indus Basin,” he said.
He said wetlands are cost-effective climate solutions, as they absorb floods more effectively, store carbon, especially mangroves, protect coastlines naturally, and reduce the need for costly disaster recovery.
He said that World Wetlands Day provided Pakistan and the international community with an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to the sustainable conservation and management of wetlands. PTI SH ZH ZH
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