Islamabad:
India warned Pakistan of an imminent flood despite holding the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in Abeyance – one step Islamabad on Monday said it should have been directed through treaty obligations instead of diplomatic channels.
India shared the flood data on Sunday morning through its High Commission in Islamabad, according to officials here Monday. The information was communicated through a letter from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
“The High Commission in India to Pakistan presents his compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Islamabad, and has the honor of conveying the following flood data. River and the name of the place: Tawi, Jammu. Date/time: 24 August 2025, 10.00 hours, flooding data: High flood,” said the letter, seen by Express Pakinomist.
This was the first time India shared flood data with Pakistan when it unilaterally suspended IWT after the Pahagam attack in April. The Foreign Office confirmed the development later, but questioned the Indian step by bypassing IWT.
“On August 24, 2025, India communicated flood warnings through diplomatic channels rather than through the Indus Waters Commission as required under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT),” noted a foreign office. “India is obliged to fully comply with all provisions of the treaty.”
Furthermore, the Foreign Office Declaration said that India’s unilateral declaration of keeping IWT according to a serious violation of international law and could have significant negative consequences for peace and stability in South Asia.
A foreign office told The Express Pakinomist that India seemed to have deliberately omitted referral to IWT to put a new normal with Pakistan. According to the official, India tried to avoid the provisions of IWT.
A named official in New Delhi told Reuters News Agency that India shared the flood data with Pakistan on “humanitarian grounds” and not through the treaty obligations. The news agency also said that the Ministry of India’s external affairs did not respond to its request for comment.
Following the Indian alarm, the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) from Punjab issued a flood alarm, warning that rising waters in the river Tawi would probably affect the levels of Gujarat and Sialkot via the Chenab River. The district administrations were asked to activate flood monitoring and early warning systems and ensure a coordinated reaction.
IWT, which was signed in 1960 with the World Bank’s mediation, gives Pakistan rights to the Western Rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab for irrigation, drinking and non-consuming uses such as hydropower. India controls the eastern rivers including Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, but can also use the western rivers for limited power production and irrigation, provided it does not change their flow significantly.
India put IWT in “Abeyance” in April after attaching the deadly attack on tourists in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to Pakistan. The tensions escalated in May to the worst military clash between the nuclear armed rivals for decades.
However, the permanent arbitration court concluded in its recent ruling that India could not deny Pakistan its share of water and emphasized that Run-of-the-River projects should be strictly compliance with the Treaty provisions.
Previously, the Hague -based Court of Justice also stated that no country party to IWT could unilaterally go away from the water sharing agreement or change its provisions. Pakistan has repeatedly warned that any attempt from India to deny the country that its proper proportion of water would be considered an act of war.
(With input from Reuters)
