Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Warns India Over Indus Waters Treaty Suspension

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has slammed India’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, calling it “deeply regrettable” and warning that Pakistan won’t let its red line be crossed.

In Dushanbe, speaking at an international conference on glacier preservation, Tajikistan, Sharif emphasized the importance of the 1960 water-sharing agreement and its impact on millions of lives.

"India’s unilateral and illegal decision to hold in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the sharing of the Indus Basin’s water, is deeply regrettable," Sharif was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Dawn news outlet. "Millions of lives must not be held hostage to narrow political gains. Pakistan will not allow this. We will never allow the red line to be crossed."

His comments came just a day after Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, issued a similar warning, declaring that water is a "red line" for Pakistan and that any compromise would be unacceptable.

India suspended the treaty in April following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, accusing Pakistan of supporting terrorism. New Delhi has said the treaty will remain in abeyance until Pakistan takes action to stop cross-border attacks.

Signed in 1960 with help from the World Bank, the Indus Waters Treaty was meant to ensure that India and Pakistan could share the waters of the Indus River and its major tributaries — the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum, and Chenab. Across the years, it’s been one of the few things both countries have managed to agree on, even when tensions between them were at their worst. It’s often held up as a rare example of how cooperation is still possible, even between rivals.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a firm stance on the issue, stating that Pakistan will not receive water from India’s rivers if it continues to “play with the blood of Indians.”

"Pakistan will not get a single drop of water that belongs to India. Playing with the blood of Indians will cost Pakistan dearly. This is India's resolve, and no one in the world can deter us from this commitment," Modi said.

India has also accused Pakistan of violating the spirit of the treaty through repeated wars and decades of terrorism. Speaking at the UN, India’s Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish said: “Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India. In the last four decades, more than 20,000 Indian lives have been lost in terror attacks, including the recent targeted attack on tourists in Pahalgam. India has shown extraordinary patience and magnanimity throughout this period.”

As tensions rise, the future of the Indus Waters Treaty — once seen as a symbol of cooperation — remains uncertain.