Pakistan deals with the Water Treaty of Indo 1960 (IWT) as a fruit of prolonged negotiations between India and Pakistan, which took several years of efforts before its completion. During the last 65 years of its operation, the IWT has fulfilled its purpose. It includes substantive provisions that clearly set and regulate the rights and obligations of India and Pakistan. Since the IWT was a bargain between the two countries, at least for Pakistan, riverside modifications, or lower changes in the treaty can only be considered whether they address their concerns.
However, India had expressed her intention to renegotiate the IWT before keeping it in suspense. In fact, article XII of the IWT itself establishes this eventuality: “The provisions of this treaty can be modified from time to time by a duly ratified treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments.” And “the provisions of this treaty or provisions of this modified treaty … will continue in force until a duly ratified treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments is ended.” India, in accordance with article XII, sent two notices to Pakistan in January 2023 and in September 2024 inviting Pakistan to begin Parleyys for the modification of the IWT.
Post-Pahalgam, Pakistan has invited India to open conversations on all the issues, including the operation of the IWT, which was suspended by India in April 2025. If, ultimately, the two countries agree that the treaty is responsible for the modification, then Pakistan will be called to protect their interests in any protocol added to the IWT after the agreed modifications. I think there are at least four areas where Pakistan is advised to protect their interest through the protocol:
Yo. To make IWT a multilateral arrangement to share water, China must be invited to become a party. Both China and India are upper and lower riparianians in the region have many inter se. It would be a strategic decision of both to enter a formal provision to share water. Such association is not entirely fanciful; Its bases have already been placed in the Shanghai cooperation organization and related treaties. India, Pakistan and China are members of the SCO.
There are at least four areas where Pakistan is advised to protect their interests through any protocol to the treaty.
Article 3 of the SCO Charter identifies areas of cooperation between the Member States. Article 3 includes “solid environmental management, including the management of water resources in the region and implementing particular environmental programs and projects.” Article 3 also provides the expansion of cooperation spheres by mutual agreement. If a multilateral agreement in the form of protocol to the IWT is agreed, the three countries will benefit and help reduce tensions.
China’s case to become part of any future protocol for the IWT is backed by precedents of several important rivers in the world. For example, the Mekong is a cross -border river and all the countries that share it are parts of the 1995 Framework Agreement for sustainable development and the management of the river basin. The Mekong River commission manages the obligations under said agreement.
Similarly, the cooperative framework of the NILE River Basin 2010 is executed by states that share the river. He also established the commission of the Nile River Basin that develops the river in a cooperative way.
In Europe, the Danube is shared by 14 countries, which have formed an international commission through a convention in 1994. Since the Indo originates in the Tibet, China, creates a fair cause to consider China to become part of any new agreement under the IWT. In any case, India herself has created a Locus standi for China through her account by making the presidential order of August 5, 2019.
II. Clause 8 of Annex D to IWT establishes the criteria that India has to observe when designing any dam in the western rivers. Clause 9 also requires that India reports to Pakistan six months before starting any construction of a dam to allow Pakistan to evaluate whether the provisions of clause 8 have been duly followed by India. In fact, despite the provisions of article VII (2) of the IWT, India’s decision to build a dam (apart from the matter of its design) is taken out of reach of the IWT regime and is based totally on the arbitrary evaluation of India of its energy needs and strategic interests.
In the previous scenario, Pakistan can only object to the technical specifications under the provisions of the Annex-D but cannot challenge the need or solidity of the decision of the superior riverside of building a particular dam. To restrict the abusive and arbitrary use of power to build as many dams as you like, it is necessary to provide a judicial mechanism in the form of the International Court of Justice or the Court of Arbitration, where the decision to build a dam itself can be challenged as unnecessary or bad trust. From this point of view, a three -year warning is also requested from Pakistan to protect their interests after a political decision to build a dam has been made.
III. Currently, the IWT does not contain any provision that provides for climate change management. The IWT in its current form is based on historical data to ensure that water supplies remain consistent. However, this is no longer safe due to climate change. It is recommended that the IWT reflect the need to establish mechanisms to quantify and collect data on climate change, while strengthening existing data collection. Therefore, to evaluate the changes that are required as a result of the impact of climate change, provisions to establish a permanent panel of experts with representation of all parties must be introduced.
IV. A disposition in the sense that India must maintain the minimum water flow in the eastern rivers for the lower riverside state must be added to the protocol. In the context of the International Water Law, the ‘minimum flow’ refers to the least amount of water that a river needs to continue flowing to meet the needs of the lowest riverside states, including ecological needs.
The writer is a former Minister of Caregotle Right.
Posted in Dawn, June 13, 2025
