India vows to stop ‘single drop of water’ from reaching Pakistan

India has vowed that it would not let “a single drop of water” reach neighboring Pakistan, a move that Islamabad previously condemned as a violation of its water rights and international law.

The announcement by New Delhi’s Water Minister C.R. Patil on Tuesday follows India’s suspension of a key cross-border treaty last year.

Pakistan has previously said it would consider any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways as an “act of war” and says that the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) remains in force as there is no mechanism to unilaterally withdraw from it.

“It is certain, not a single drop of water will go (to Pakistan) in the coming years,” Patil told India’s ANI news agency late Tuesday.

Patil, speaking in Hindi, said that India is “actively working on it” after “directives” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The treaty governs the use of water from six rivers, whose headwaters originate in India but flow into Pakistan as part of the Indus basin – a resource relied on by hundreds of millions.

The Indus cuts through ultra-sensitive demarcation lines between India and Pakistan in contested, Muslim-majority Kashmir – a Himalayan territory both countries claim in full.

Infographic map showing the rivers in the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, between India and Pakistan. (Graphic by AFP)

India said in May 2025 that it suspended its IWT membership, after accusing Islamabad of backing a deadly attack on tourists on the Indian side of Kashmir – charges Pakistan denied.

The nuclear-armed neighbors fought a four-day conflict – with intense drone, missile and artillery exchanges, killing nearly 70 people on both sides.

The issue of water has since remained a bitter point of contention.

Earlier this month, Pakistan accused India of wanting to “weaponize” water, after two initiatives were announced by New Delhi on the section of the Chenab River it controls.

In May, India’s government-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation issued a tender notice for a proposed tunnel project that would transfer water from the Chenab River to the Beas Basin.

India’s power ministry said in January it was undertaking “sediment removal” at Salal Power Station on the Chenab River, following the termination of the Indus Waters Treaty.”

Experts say that India’s existing dams do not have the capacity to block or divert water, and can only regulate the timings of when it releases flows.

Cutting flows would have serious implications for Pakistan’s agriculture and overall economy, but any project would take several years before they have an impact.

An official in the Indian-controlled Kashmir said that any work would “not be possible to start before mid-2027”, and would take at least five years to complete.

DAILYSABAH