India’s Minister of Jal Shakti, CR Patil, said on Tuesday that the country is working to fully divert the water of the Indus river towards its territory, leaving the basin on the Pakistani side completely dry. Patil said that while the Indus Water Treaty remains in abeyance, the Government of India is implementing tough projects in the difficult terrain to utilise the Indus water for the benefit of its people.
“The Indus Water treaty has been kept in abeyance. And since Prime Minister Modi took this decision, every effort is being made to ensure not a single drop flows into Pakistan. Under the Prime Minister’s directives, Home Minister Amit Shah is also personally monitoring the matter, and we are actively working on it. I believe the work is proceeding in a time-bound manner, and the flow of Indus water to Pakistan will stop in the next 1.5-2 years. It is certain—not a single drop of water will go in the coming years,” said Patil.
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The IWT was signed between India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, concerning the utilisation of the waters of the Indus system rivers. After last year’s heinous Pahalgam terror attack, India exercised its rights as a sovereign nation under international law and placed IWT in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjured its support for cross-border terrorism.
Pakistan had opposed the move and even had a Court of Arbitration illegally constituted to pressure India into restoring the treaty. However, India has been rejecting any rulings by the CoA. Earlier last month, India rejected the latest award issued by the “illegally constituted” Court of Arbitration (CoA) – purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) 1960 – as ‘null and void’.
“The illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration (CoA) has, on 15 May 2026, issued what it termed an award concerning maximum pondage supplemental to the award on issues of general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on May 16.
“India categorically rejects the present so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements of the illegally constituted CoA. India has never recognised the establishment of this so-called CoA. Any proceeding, award, or decision issued by it is null and void. India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains in force,” he added.
Last year, the MEA had slammed the “so-called” Court of Arbitration for issuing what it characterized as a “supplemental award” on its competence concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration, and India’s position has all along been that the constitution of this so-called arbitral body is in itself a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty and consequently any proceedings before this forum and any award or decision taken by it are also for that reason illegal and per se void,” the MEA had then responded to the CoA’s move.
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India questioned such “charades” at Pakistan’s behest, terming them as “desperate attempts” to escape accountability for its role as the global epicentre of terrorism.
