Pakistan on Wednesday told a United Nations ministerial meeting India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty threatened the water security and livelihoods of 240 million people, urging the international community to uphold international treaty obligations.
The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, has governed the sharing of the Indus river system between India and Pakistan for more than six decades. India announced it was suspending the treaty after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last year that killed 26 people, accusing Pakistan of supporting the militants responsible. Islamabad denied any involvement and has rejected New Delhi’s move, arguing that the treaty cannot be suspended unilaterally under international law. It says any attempt to block Pakistan’s share of waters will be considered an “act of war.”
“Water security is equally fundamental. For more than six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty has stood as a model of peaceful transboundary cooperation,” Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said in an address at the UN Headquarters in New York.
“It’s unilateral and unlawful suspension by one party threatens the water security and livelihoods of 240 million Pakistanis and undermines respect for international treaty obligations.”
Iqbal said Pakistan remained committed to the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals despite economic and climate-related challenges, including devastating floods in 2022 and 2025 that he said had erased years of development gains.
“Few countries have experienced the devastating impact of climate change as acutely as Pakistan,” he said, adding that the country was restoring ecosystems, strengthening water security and integrating climate resilience into its national development planning.
He also called for reforms to the international financial system, saying countries on the front lines of climate change should not be forced to finance recovery from disasters “they did little to cause.”
“The international financial architecture built after World War II must evolve to meet the new realities of the 21st century,” Iqbal said.
Pakistan is among the countries considered most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The country has experienced increasingly frequent extreme weather events in recent years, including the catastrophic floods of 2022, severe floods again in 2025, prolonged heatwaves and accelerating glacial melt in the Himalayas and Karakoram, all of which have heightened concerns over water security, food production and long-term economic resilience.