Islamabad:
India alerted Pakistan on imminent flood despite maintaining the 1960 -Indo -Indo -Indo treaty in suspense: a movement that Islamabad said on Monday should have been routed through the obligations of the treaty instead of diplomatic channels.
India shared the flood data on Sunday morning through its high commission in Islamabad, according to officials here on Monday. The information was transmitted through a letter from the Indian high commission in Islamabad.
“The High Commission of India to Pakistan presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Islamabad and has the honor of transmitting the following flood data. River and name of the site: Tawi, Jammu.
This was the first time that India shared flood data with Pakistan, since it unilaterally suspended the IWT after Pahalgam’s attack in April. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed development later, but questioned the Indian movement to avoid the IWT.
“On August 24, 2025, India communicated flood warnings through diplomatic channels, instead of through the Indo Aguas Commission as required under the Treaty of the Waters of the Indo (IWT),” said a reading of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “India is obliged to fully comply with all the provisions of the treaty.”
The declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that the Unilateral Declaration of India to maintain the IWT in suspense constituted a serious violation of international law and could have significant negative consequences for peace and stability in southern Asia.
An official of the Foreign Ministry told Express PAkGazette that India seemed to have deliberately omitted the reference to the IWT to establish a new normality in Pakistan. India, according to the official, was trying to dodge the provisions of the IWT.
An unidentified official in New Delhi told the Reuters news agency that India shared the flood data with Pakistan for “humanitarian reasons” and not through the obligations of the treaty. The news agency also said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India did not respond to its request for comments.
After the Indian alert, the Provincial Authority of Disaster Management (PDMA) of Punjab issued a flood alert, warning that the growing waters in the Tawi River would probably affect the levels in Gujarat and Sialkot through the Chenab River. District administrations were asked to activate flood monitoring systems and early warning and guarantee a coordinated response.
Signed in 1960 with the mediation of the World Bank, the IWT gives Pakistan rights to the Western rivers: Indus, Jhelum and Chenab for irrigation, alcohol consumption and non -consumptive uses such as hydroelectric energy. India controls the East rivers, including Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, but you can also use Western rivers for limited energy generation and irrigation, provided that it does not alter its flow significantly.
India put the IWT in “abement” in April after linking the deadly attack against tourists in Jammu and Kashmir (Iiojk) illegally occupied with Pakistan. Tensions intensified in May to the worst military shock among rivals with nuclear weapons in decades.
However, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in its recent ruling concluded that India could not deny Pakistan its share of the water and emphasized that the Rio projects were strictly complied with the provisions of the treaty.
Previously, the Hague Court also ruled that no party in the country for the IWT could unilaterally move away from the water exchange agreement or alter its provisions. Pakistan has repeatedly warned that any attempt to deny the country its due participation in the water would be considered as an act of war.
(With contributions from Reuters)
