- By Ajeet Kumar
- Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:33 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his government decided to enhance the water storage capacity, as India continued to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance. A day after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan that included putting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in "abeyance".
Pakistan's massive agriculture is dependent on the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, and any effort to divert water, and even temporarily stop it, may spell disaster for the country.
State-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that Sharif, during a visit to the National Emergencies Operations Centre on Tuesday, talked about the water issue. Sharif said the "enemy" wants to take steps against the waters treaty. "For that, the government has decided that we will build our water storage," he said.
Pakistan to build “non-controversial water storage capacity”
He said the government would build a “non-controversial water storage capacity” by utilising resources such as the Diamer Bhasha dam and others. “We will build this capacity with our own resources in the next few years. There is a critical role of the National Disaster Management Authority in this," he said.
India suspends IWT
Apart from immediate steps such as putting the IWT in abeyance and stopping all trade with Pakistan, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
ALSO READ: Pakistan Sent Four Letters To India On Indus Treaty Amid Drought-Like Conditions: Report
Bilawal Bhutto warns another war
Earlier last month, Pakistan former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said his country will go to war if India denies Islamabad its fair share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty. Bilawal, in a speech in parliament, rejected the Indian decision to suspend the agreement and threatened to get Pakistan’s share of water. “India has two options: share water fairly, or we will deliver water to us from all six rivers,” he said referring to the six rivers of the Indus basin.
He said that the IWT was still in vogue as the agreement cannot be held in abeyance.
“The attack on Sindhu (Indus River) and India’s claim that the IWT has ended and it’s in abeyance. Firstly, this is illegal, as the IWT is not in abeyance, it is binding on Pakistan and India, but the threat itself of stopping water is illegal according to the UN charter,” he said.
Bilawal, who is head of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), also threatened that if India decides to follow through on the threat, “we will have to wage war again”.
(With inputs from agencies)