India violating treaties with water terrorism

May 21, 2025 (MLN): India is violating the law by using force and threatening Pakistan’s political survival through water terrorism, said Former chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani.

India’s interference in the flow of the Chenab River constitutes an intentional wrongful act and places it in breach of Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, he added.

Rabbani outlined that on April 23, 2025, India unilaterally announced that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was “in abeyance”—a term neither recognized in the VCLT nor mentioned in the IWT itself.

He further pointed out that, according to Article 57 of the VCLT, a treaty may only be suspended if such a provision exists within the treaty or if all contracting parties agree.

Therefore, India’s unilateral action lacks a legal basis under international treaty law, as per the press release issued.

Rabbani emphasized that any obstruction, restriction, or manipulation of water flow in rivers allocated to Pakistan under the IWT—specifically the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—constitutes a direct violation of Article III(2) of the treaty.

This article obligates India to avoid any interference with the natural flow of these rivers.

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