Pakistan Praises UN Water Cooperation Resolution Amid Indus Treaty Standoff

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed the inclusion of transboundary water cooperation in a UN resolution on access to safe drinking water and sanitation, noting that a “significant majority” of nations supported the principle that states sharing water resources also share responsibilities.

This stance holds particular significance for Islamabad amid its ongoing dispute with India over the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the use of the Indus river system between the nuclear-armed neighbors. New Delhi placed the treaty “in abeyance” following an April 2025 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, accusing Pakistan of supporting cross-border militancy. Islamabad denies the charge and asserts that India cannot unilaterally suspend the treaty.

The resolution on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, presented by Spain and Germany at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, included references to cooperation among countries sharing water resources. Two proposed amendments were rejected by 17 votes to 10, with nine abstentions, before the overall text was adopted without a vote.

Pakistan stated that the outcome retained references to transboundary water cooperation that it deemed critical.

“Cooperation is not a favor between neighbors; it is what SDG 6 asks of us all,” Pakistan’s First Secretary Adeel Khokhar told the council, referring to the UN Sustainable Development Goal on clean water and sanitation.

“Where waters are shared, so are responsibilities.”

Khokhar stated that the explicit recognition of transboundary water cooperation aligned with SDG 6.5, which calls for integrated water resources management at all levels, including through cooperation between countries sharing water resources.

“No state can guarantee safe water to its people while shared waters remain beyond the reach of cooperation,” he said, noting that 153 UN member states share transboundary waters.

Khokhar emphasized that upstream states should not use shared water resources to exert pressure on their neighbors.

“No upper riparian should use water as an instrument of political leverage or coercion,” he said. “Legal instruments, including obligations under international law, must be upheld in good faith.”

He thanked what he described as a “significant majority” of states for supporting the retention of references to transboundary water cooperation, saying this showed the principle was “a priority widely shared” across the council.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of seeking to “weaponize” water since New Delhi placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, while India maintains that changed security circumstances mean the treaty cannot continue in its existing form.

Islamabad has stated that any attempt to stop or divert water allocated to Pakistan under the treaty would be considered an “act of war.”

The World Bank-brokered treaty, signed in 1960, allocates the three western rivers—the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—largely to Pakistan, and the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, to India, while allowing India limited use of the western rivers, including for hydropower generation.

A Court of Arbitration at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in August that the treaty remained in force despite India’s decision to hold it in abeyance. India rejects the arbitration proceedings and does not recognize the court’s authority in the dispute.

Pakistan said it would continue raising transboundary water cooperation at the Human Rights Council and wanted the issue to receive greater prominence in future versions of the resolution.

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