India is considering cutting off or reducing water supplies to Pakistan, including the Indus River system, on which Pakistanʼs agriculture and energy sectors depend critically.
Reuters reports this, citing sources.
The agency notes that this is Indiaʼs response to the shooting in the town of Pahalgam, which occurred in late April 2025. The attack killed 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali, and the attackers managed to escape. India called it a terrorist attack, for which it blames Pakistan, although Islamabad denies this.
In response, India has already suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty, which has governed the sharing of water between the two countries since 1960. And although the parties recently agreed to a temporary ceasefire, the agreement has not yet been restored.
According to Reuters, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered the acceleration of the development and launch of projects on the Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus rivers — three key waterways that are contractually allocated primarily for the use of Pakistan.
One of the key projects is the expansion of the Ranbir Canal, built in the 19th century. It is planned to be extended from 60 to 120 km, which will allow India to increase the volume of water withdrawal from 40 to 150 cubic meters per second. The canal leads from India to the Pakistani province of Punjab, the agricultural heartland of the country.
India has not publicly announced plans to expand the Ranbir Canal. Discussions began last month and continue even after the declaration of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Reuters notes.
About 80% of Pakistanʼs agricultural land depends on the Indus system, as do almost all of the countryʼs hydroelectric power plants. Pakistan has already felt the pressure: in early May, water levels at a key intake point in Pakistan temporarily dropped by 90% when India began maintenance work on some parts of the Indus system.
Fishermen clean a fishing net on the partially dried-up Indus River in Hyderabad, Pakistan, April 25, 2025.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty, India has limited capacity to build small hydropower plants on three rivers reserved for Pakistan. However, it has free access to the other three—the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi. Along with plans to widen the Ranbir Canal, India is also considering new projects that are likely to reduce the flow of water to Pakistan from rivers reserved for it.
One of the documents, a memo from a government company, proposes potentially diverting water from the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum rivers to rivers in three northern Indian states. It was prepared after the April 22 attack.
India has also drawn up a list of projects in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir that would increase hydropower capacity from 3,360 to 12,000 megawatts. Potential projects also include the construction of large-scale reservoirs.
A view of the Uri-II hydroelectric dam on the Jhelum River, which flows from Indian Kashmir to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
This week, Modi made a sharp statement in a speech that “water and blood cannot flow together”, though he did not mention the Indus Waters Treaty directly. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said India would “keep the treaty in limbo until Pakistan completely and irrevocably abandons its support for terrorism across the border”.
Pakistan views Indiaʼs actions as an "act of war". Islamabad has already said it considers the Indus Waters Treaty valid and Indiaʼs termination of it illegal. Security experts warn that if India uses water as a geopolitical weapon, China could do the same against India itself — for example, with regard to the tributaries of the Brahmaputra that originate in Tibet.
India-Pakistan conflict
On April 22, near the town of Pahalgam, located in the Indian-controlled part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, armed militants opened fire on a group of tourists. 26 people were killed. A previously unknown militant group calling itself the “Kashmir Resistance” claimed responsibility for the attack. India blames Pakistan, which denies the charge.
In response to the killings, New Delhi suspended a key water-sharing agreement with Pakistan, closed the only land border crossing between the countries, reduced the number of diplomatic staff, and canceled all visas issued to Pakistani citizens. Pakistan then canceled visas issued to Indian citizens, closed its airspace to all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India.
On the night of May 7, the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor and attacked nine facilities in Pakistan. On the night of May 10, Pakistan attacked India and launched Operation Bunyan ul Marsoos ("Strong Wall"). Indian air bases and missile depots were hit.
The countries agreed to cease all shelling and military actions on land, in the air, and at sea on May 10 from 5:00 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. Kyiv time).
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