Indian Envoy Vinay Kwatra slammed Pakistan for dismantling the goodwill behind the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty while failing to dismantle its cross-border terror infrastructure.
Published: August 2, 2026, 3:46 PM IST
Share Article
https://www.india.com/news/world/indus-waters-treaty-dismantled-goodwill-not-terror-infrastructure-indias-us-envoy-calls-out-pakistan-details-8490942/
Indus Waters Treaty- File image
Washington: In a significant global development, India’s Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, has criticized Islamabad over the erosion of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), stating that Pakistan spent 50 years dismantling the spirit of goodwill behind the accord instead of dismantling its terror infrastructureIn his recent statement, Kwatra emphasized that putting the pact into abeyance merely acknowledges the damage already caused by Pakistan’s conduct over decades, highlighting New Delhi’s growing frustration with its neighbor’s persistent cross-border actions and breach of mutual trust.
History behind 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)
Signed in 1960 to govern the utilization of the Indus river system, the historic water-sharing arrangement allocated the three eastern rivers, accounting for roughly 20 percent of the basin’s total water to IndiaMeanwhile, Pakistan was granted control over the three western rivers, which carry approximately 80 percent of the water shareDespite this allocation designed to foster peace, India maintains that decades of hostile conduct and unaddressed security concerns have effectively undermined the treaty’s foundational framework.
“That asymmetry stifled development for decades in Indian regions that could have benefited from better water rightsIndia honoured the treaty anyway,” Kwatra, a former Foreign Secretary, wrote in an opinion piece in NewsweekHowever, after last year’s heinous Pahalgam terror attack, India exercised its rights as a sovereign nation under international law and placed the IWT in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjured its support for cross-border terrorism.
Also read: Why is India adamant on changing Indus Waters Treaty? Helpless Pakistan now knocks at doors of…
What did Indian envoy said on Pakistan’s approach towards India?
The Indian envoy said that Pakistan’s approach towards India had been marked by wars, hostility and cross-border terrorist attacks, including on the Indian Parliament, the Mumbai terror attack, the Uri and Pathankot attacks and the Pahalgam attackMore than 40,000 people have been killed in India due to Pakistan’s terror campaign, according to Kwatra.
According to Kwatra, Pakistan’s approach to India-initiated projects was using obstruction and bureaucratic delaysRepeated targeting of Indian project sites, including the terrorist attack on the Tulbul Navigation Project in 2012, stopped India from exercising its rights under the treatyKwatra stated that Pakistan opposed India’s initiatives to renegotiate the treaty in view of the technological change, which would have enabled India to build its hydropower potential.
(With inputs from agencies)
