'Will never be restored': Shah rules out revival of Indus Waters Treaty with Pak
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New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has firmly ruled out the restoration of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, declaring that India will instead divert the river water for domestic use. In an interview with The Times of India, Shah asserted, “No, it will never be restored,” referring to the six-decade-old water-sharing accord.
According to Hindustan Times, the minister stated that India plans to redirect the water that currently flows into Pakistan toward Rajasthan through the construction of a canal.
“Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” Shah added.
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, governs the distribution of water from the Indus River system between India and Pakistan. However, in the wake of the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir—which claimed the lives of 26 civilians—India placed the agreement in "abeyance", accusing Pakistan of harbouring and supporting cross-border terrorism.
While Pakistan has denied any role in the attack, the Indian government has maintained its position that “talks and terror cannot go together”, firmly opposing any restoration of dialogue until Islamabad takes tangible steps against terrorist groups operating within its borders.
Despite a ceasefire agreement between the two nations, Pakistan has made multiple appeals to India for reinstating the treaty. Its water resources secretary, Syed Ali Murtaza, has written several letters to India’s Jal Shakti Ministry—three of them after Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam killings—urging a review of the suspension.
Pakistan argues that India’s unilateral suspension violates the terms of the treaty, which does not allow either party to withdraw unilaterally. However, India formally notified Pakistan of its decision on April 24. In the communication, India’s water resources secretary, Debashree Mukherjee, wrote that while treaties are to be honoured in good faith, continued cross-border terrorism undermines such commitments.
The Indus Waters Treaty has historically stood as a rare example of sustained cooperation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.