Modi’s Water War Hysteria |
Rivers ignore borders, making shared water a necessity for human survival, which led to the creation of treaties to separate hydrology from politics and ensure cooperation. India’s April 2025 decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance weaponises this technical agreement, shattering 65 years of successful, good-faith data sharing and setting a dangerous global precedent.
This action turns a historic pillar of stability into an existential threat by transforming vital access to water into a political lever. A state, like India, cannot credibly demand respect for international law, trade agreements, and climate accords while treating its most vital water treaty as dispensable. The tendency of suspending agreed-upon rules or treaties amid political tensions is catastrophic for peace in South Asia.
The immediate damage is to Pakistan, but the mechanism of damage is what should alarm the world. India has withheld critical hydrological information. In a river basin, data is much more than paperwork involving the cycle of activities related to the survival of human beings. Pakistan’s agriculture........