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- By Shivangi Sharma
- Tue, 29 Jul 2025 09:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again taken aim at the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), declaring that the treaty, in its current form, is no longer acceptable to India. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a special discussion on “Operation Sindoor,” the Prime Minister also strongly criticised the historic water-sharing pact signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan, calling it a strategic failure and a betrayal of Indian farmers.
Reiterating his long-standing stance, Modi said that his government has made it clear that “blood and water cannot flow together.” This comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism, especially in Kashmir. The Prime Minister stated that previous governments failed to correct the original mistake, resulting in ongoing injustice to India.
'Biggest Blunder'
"The Indus Water Treaty was Nehru’s biggest blunder. He knew a kind of diplomacy that had no place for India’s farmers," Modi said. He alleged that not only was a significant portion of the water from the Indus river system given to Pakistan, but that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru even gave financial aid to Islamabad for building dams.
"Successive governments did not correct this mistake, but we made it clear that blood and water cannot flow together," he added.
This comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism, especially in Kashmir. The Prime Minister stated that previous governments failed to correct the original mistake, resulting in ongoing injustice to India.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty, mediated by the World Bank, India was allocated exclusive rights over the eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, while Pakistan received the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. India, however, was permitted limited usage of the western rivers for irrigation and hydroelectric projects. As per the treaty, Pakistan receives nearly 80 per cent of the water from the river system.
“We were left with only 20 per cent of the Indus River system. They gave 80 per cent to a country that openly calls itself India’s enemy,” Modi said, questioning the logic behind such a decision.
Earlier in April, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had warned that “blood would flow in rivers” if water was stopped, reacting sharply to India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have sharply escalated since the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists, and was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a group believed to be a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba; in response, India began the process to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, citing Pakistan’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism.