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As India vowed to leave Pakistan dry and never restore the Indus Water Treaty, its decision to choke off Pakistan’s water supply has sparked war talk in Islamabad, with former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warning Pakistan could “seize all six rivers” if the treaty isn’t reinstated.
The crisis erupted after a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in April 2025, which killed 26 civilians. India, blaming Pakistan-based militants for the attack, abruptly suspended its participation in the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, a landmark water-sharing agreement that had survived decades of hostilities between the two countries.
‘India has only two options’: Bhutto’s ultimatum
In a public address, Bhutto delivered a stark message: “India has only two options: agree to the Indus Water Treaty, or Pakistan will wage another war.” He has framed the water dispute as existential for Pakistan, declaring water “a red line” and warning that India’s actions amount to a declaration of war. “We are the true custodians of the Indus civilisation and we will defend it,” Bhutto said.
This is not the first time when he made a stark statement against India, previously he said that, “Either our water will flow through it, or their blood will,” and threatened that “blood will flow if India stops Indus River water.” Bhutto has also called for international intervention, emphasising that blocking Pakistan’s water supply would leave “no option but war.”
‘It will never be restored’, says Amit Shah
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has categorically rejected the possibility of reviving the treaty. “No, it will never be restored,” Shah declared, announcing that water previously flowing into Pakistan would be rerouted to Indian states like Rajasthan via new canal infrastructure. “Pakistan has been receiving this water unjustly,” he said.
Impact on Pakistan: Dams at ‘dead levels’
The move has already slashed water flow to Pakistan by nearly 20%, according to Pakistani officials. Dams are reaching ‘dead levels,’ and the country’s vital agricultural sector is bearing the brunt.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has echoed Bhutto’s warnings, calling India’s move a “brazen violation” of international law and a “dangerous precedent.” Islamabad is considering legal action, but so far, international actors have remained silent.
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, had been a rare example of cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbors, allocating the eastern rivers to India and the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, largely to Pakistan. Its abrupt suspension marks an unprecedented rupture in bilateral relations.
