Indus Waters Treaty UN Row: Pakistan Warns India Against Water Coercion

UN – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – Pakistan has raised the Indus Waters Treaty UN issue at the Human Rights Council, warning the world against using water as a tool of political pressure. Its diplomat called India’s recent actions on the treaty a “weaponisation of water.”

The remarks came from Adeel Mumtaz Khokhar, Pakistan’s First Secretary. He spoke during the 63rd session of the Council, which ran from September 7 to October 7, 2026.

The Council was discussing a resolution on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. Germany and Spain presented the text, and members adopted it without a vote.

Pakistan says it worked hard to keep one key line in the final draft. That line refers to cooperation on transboundary water, meaning rivers and lakes that cross national borders.

According to Pakistan, India wanted this reference removed. Pakistan says India argued that shared water between countries is not a human rights matter and does not belong in this resolution.

Pakistan disagreed. It said cooperation over shared water is closely tied to the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, because millions of people depend on rivers for their daily needs.

“Where water is shared, responsibilities are also shared,” Khokhar told the Council.

He said cooperation between neighbours is not a favour or a concession. In his view, it is a duty that every country sharing a river must accept.

Khokhar also sent a clear message to upstream countries. He said no upstream nation can use water as a tool of political pressure or influence.

He then turned to the Indus Waters Treaty itself. He described India’s unilateral action on the treaty as a weaponisation of water. He added that water must never become a tool of coercion, political leverage or war.

After the resolution passed, Pakistan thanked the states that helped keep the water cooperation reference in the final text.

The official UN record lists the measure as draft resolution A/HRC/63/L.34. Its title is “The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.” The record names Germany and Spain as the sponsors and lists Khokhar among the speakers.

The vote on the amendments was also close to even. Two proposed changes, known as L.39 and L.40, were rejected before the main text was adopted. Each received 10 votes in favour and 17 against, with nine countries abstaining.

The Indus river system is vital to millions of people in the region. Farms, towns and homes along its rivers rely on steady water flow throughout the year.

For this reason, any dispute over the treaty draws close attention, and the debate at the Council shows how sensitive the subject has become. Pakistan wants the world to treat shared water as a matter of cooperation and basic human rights.

The Council’s final text kept the reference to transboundary water cooperation, which Pakistan sees as a diplomatic gain. Whether it changes anything on the ground is not yet clear.