Chairman SIDA says Indus Water Treaty can't be revoked unilaterally

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Feb, 2026) Qabool Muhammad Khatian, Chairman Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA), has expressed serious concern over India’s withdrawal from the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Talking to the APP here on Sunday, he said for over 6 decades, the IWT has provided a predictable framework for transboundary water management.

He cautioned that disruptions or upstream manipulation of flows, particularly in low-flow months, would intensify shortages for irrigation, drinking water, and hydropower.

"Reduced and untimely supplies can compress sowing windows, depress yields of wheat, rice, cotton, and sugarcane, and raise input and pumping costs heightening food inflation and import dependence," he warned.

According to him, lower flows below Kotri Barrage hasten seawater intrusion, erode the delta, degrade mangroves and fisheries, and endanger livelihoods and drinking water in Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, and adjoining areas.

"Karachi’s water security, linked to Indus supplies, may also be affected," he said.

The chairman observed that under the IWT, Pakistan’s rights over the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) could not be lawfully abrogated unilaterally because no international law would allow any country to make a lower riparian country having rights over the rivers to be turned dry.

He, however, noted that completely “stopping” those rivers was not practically feasible at scale without extensive infrastructure and grave consequences as well.

He further said the international partners and the guarantor should press for adherence to international law, good-faith engagement, and continuity of treaty-based cooperation to safeguard regional stability.

APP/zmb/