Pakistan Urges India To Discuss Indus Water Treaty After Years Of Ignored Appeals; Jaishankar Says Suspension Will Continue

Pakistan for the first time expressed willingness to discuss Indus Water Treaty (IWT) terms, days after India suspended it following the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Express reported.

For years, India had raised concerns over the Indus Waters Treaty and requested updates to its terms to reflect modern realities, but Pakistan never showed interest in engaging, until India took action.

However, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has rejected proposal of any such talks and asserted, "The Indus Waters Treaty is held in abeyance and will continue to be held in abeyance until the cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped."

On Thursday (15 May), as quoted by ANI, he added "The only thing which remains to be discussed on Kashmir is the vacating of illegally occupied Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; we are open to that discussion."

Earlier, India issued a notice in January 2023 to amend the treaty, citing long-standing procedural delays and Pakistan’s obstructionist stance in resolving water disputes.

However, the equation seems to have shifted after India's decision to suspend the 1960 treaty. The Indian government attributed the attack to cross-border terrorism and announced the suspension of the treaty on 23 April 2025.

Pakistan's Water Resources Secretary, Syed Ali Murtaza, recently expressed Islamabad's willingness to discuss the specific terms of the treaty that India objected to.

This marks a departure from Pakistan's earlier stance, where it had not explicitly agreed to renegotiate the treaty despite India's prior notices in January 2023 and September 2024 seeking its review and modification.

India's earlier notices highlighted concerns over demographic changes, environmental issues, and the need for clean energy development, as well as the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism. 

Despite these concerns, Pakistan never engaged in any discussion to modify the treaty until India's recent suspension.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, had historically survived multiple conflicts between the two nations.