Hydro-Power or Hydro-Politics: The Perils of Weaponizing Water |
On December 29, 2025, India marked another blow on the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) through the approval of the Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on the Chenab River in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). This move is highly condemned by Pakistan as a blatant violation of the spirit of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 as it is not merely another development in the history of Indo-Pak water disputes but it also marks a significant shift in the hydropolitics of the region. Water, a shared resource, has been widely weaponized in South Asia as a major geopolitical tool to gain strategic leverage. Besides the element of power projection involved in hydropolitics, it has far-reaching consequences for agriculture and food security, regional peace, and the very survival of downstream communites.
India’s decision to approve the 260-megawatt hydropower project comes amid the worsened tensions over the IWT in recent times. Pakistan emphasizes that this approval comes in the wake of illegal suspension of the treaty by New Delhi in the aftermath of the Pahalgam incident, a terrorist attack allegedly attributed to Pakistan. According to the verdict by Permanent Court of Arbitration, the IWT cannot be suspended or revoked unilaterally by a single party as the agreement is an internationally guaranteed one, supported by dispute-resolution mechanisms. Pakistan’s leadership stance is clear on this situation........