By Asghar Ali Mubarak
The prime minister’s message on World Water Day carries a warning that goes far beyond ceremonial language or diplomatic routine. When Pakistan declares that the use of water as a weapon of war is a violation of international law, it is not invoking abstract legal principles. It is pointing to a lived reality in which water insecurity has become a direct threat to peace, survival and regional stability in South Asia. International law is unambiguous on this question. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 clearly prohibit the targeting, manipulation or destruction of resources essential to civilian survival, including water. These provisions were written in the shadow of world wars that demonstrated how starvation and deprivation could be used to break populations.
Water, the most basic requirement for life, was deliberately placed beyond the reach of warfare. Any attempt to weaponize it is not only unlawful but morally indefensible. Pakistan’s concern is rooted in what it describes as a sustained pattern of Indian water aggression. Officials argue that India’s conduct, particularly under the current political leadership, reflects a deliberate strategy to use hydrological control as a tool of pressure. This approach, Pakistan maintains, threatens the delicate balance of peace in South Asia, where rivers do not recognize borders and millions of lives depend on predictable water flows. The issue has gained renewed urgency following what Pakistan sees as a major diplomatic and legal breakthrough.
Procedural Order No 19, issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in January 2026, reaffirmed the court’s authority under the Indus Waters Treaty and rejected India’s attempt to limit or suspend arbitration. For Islamabad, this decision strengthens its long-held position that the treaty cannot be unilaterally altered, suspended or politicized. The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 is often described as one of the world’s most successful water-sharing agreements. Brokered by the World Bank, it survived wars, crises and political upheavals precisely because it was kept separate from broader disputes. It allocated the three western rivers, the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, to Pakistan, while granting India control over the three eastern rivers.
This arrangement has sustained Pakistan’s agriculture, which relies on the Indus system for more than 80 percent of its water needs and supports the livelihoods and food security of over 240 million people. Pakistan argues that India’s recent actions undermine not only the treaty but the very principle of cooperative water management. Allegations include unilateral withholding of water, sudden releases without prior notification, refusal to share hydrological data, and threats to suspend the treaty altogether. Such behavior, Islamabad says, violates both the letter and spirit of the agreement, as well as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and international watercourse law. The prime minister, in his World Water Day message, framed water as a shared heritage rather than a strategic asset.
Observed this year under the theme “Water Resources and Traditional Knowledge: Preserving Cultural Heritage”, the day served as a reminder that rivers, lakes, glaciers and wetlands are not merely economic inputs. They are central to biodiversity, climate resilience and the cultural fabric of societies. For millions of Pakistanis, water bodies are inseparable from daily life, livelihoods and identity. The depletion or manipulation of these resources carries devastating consequences. Reduced water flows threaten agriculture, drive up food prices, and increase vulnerability to floods and droughts. Climate change has already intensified these pressures, with Pakistan facing rapid glacier melt, groundwater depletion and extreme weather events. Against this backdrop, any external disruption of water supplies becomes a multiplier of existing crises.
Pakistan’s leadership insists that its response remains rooted in law and diplomacy. Officials repeatedly stress their commitment to the full and equitable implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty and their readiness for meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, water, trade and terrorism. At the same time, they draw a clear red line. Any unilateral attempt to obstruct Pakistan’s allocated water, they say, will not be accepted. The legal framework supporting this stance is extensive. Beyond the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations Watercourses Convention and the principle of “no significant harm” emphasize cooperation, transparency and mutual respect in the management of transboundary waters.
(The writer is a senior journalist covering various beats, can be reached at editorial@metro-morning.com)
