The Indus Waters Treaty survived the wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999 without India ever suspending it. In April 2025, that changed for the first time in 65 years.
✅ Need to Know — A Treaty Written by an Outside Broker
Who signed it and when
- The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on 19 September 1960, in Karachi, by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ayub Khan of Pakistan.
The World Bank’s role
- The World Bank brokered the deal after nine years of negotiation. It is a signatory too, through its Vice President W.A.B. Iliff.
The Eastern Rivers go to India
- The treaty splits the six rivers of the Indus system into two groups. The Eastern Rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — went to India for unrestricted use.
The Western Rivers go mainly to Pakistan
- The Western Rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — went mainly to Pakistan. India kept limited rights for non-consumptive uses like hydropower, but cannot block or significantly alter their flow.
A lopsided volume split
- The split is lopsided by volume. The Eastern Rivers carry roughly 33 million acre-feet (MAF) a year, about 20% of the system. The Western Rivers carry roughly 80 MAF, about 80%.
💡 Good to Know — Three Ways to Settle a Dispute
A three-tier dispute ladder
- Article IX of the treaty sets up a three-tier ladder for disagreements. A Permanent Indus Commission, with one Commissioner from each country, meets first to resolve routine “questions.”
The Neutral Expert tier
- If the Commission can’t resolve a technical question, it becomes a “difference.” A Neutral Expert, appointed by the World Bank, rules on technical differences like those over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects.
The Court of Arbitration tier
- A broader legal disagreement is a “dispute.” Either side can then take it to a Court of Arbitration, also set up by the World Bank, whose ruling is meant to be binding.
A live controversy over which track applies
- This ladder has its own live controversy. Pakistan first sought a Neutral Expert for the Kishenganga and Ratle projects, in 2015. It unilaterally switched to demanding a Court of Arbitration instead, in 2016.
India rejects the parallel process
- India calls this a treaty-inconsistent parallel process. It argues the treaty doesn’t allow both tracks to run at once. India also disputes that the Court is even legitimately constituted, and refuses to take part in its proceedings.
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🌟 Great to Know — A Pause, Not (Yet) a Rupture
The first-ever abeyance
- India placed the treaty in abeyance on 23 April 2025, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack. It is the first time in the treaty’s history that India has ever suspended it, even briefly — not during the wars of 1965, 1971 or 1999.
A calibrated step, not a full break
- In practice, abeyance is a calibrated step, not a full break. India paused hydrological data-sharing, halted Permanent Indus Commission meetings and inspection tours, and stopped engaging the dispute mechanism.
Water still reaches Pakistan
- India has not diverted, dammed, or blocked the Western Rivers. Their water still reaches Pakistan. What changed, at least so far, is the cooperative machinery around the treaty — not the physical flow.
Speeding up India’s own river projects
- India has said the treaty stays in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism. See IndGov0054 — Ujh Multipurpose Project. It shows how abeyance is already speeding up India’s own long-delayed river projects.
📰 Current Affairs
3 July 2026: abeyance reaffirmed
- India’s Ministry of External Affairs reaffirmed that the treaty remains in abeyance, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism. It also said India retains the option of exiting the treaty entirely. (Source: The Tribune)
15 May 2026: supplemental award on ‘maximum pondage’
- The Court of Arbitration at The Hague issued a supplemental award on “maximum pondage.” It broadly favoured Pakistan’s position on the treaty’s limits on India’s water-control ability. India rejected the award as “null and void,” reiterating it does not recognise the Court as legally constituted. (Source: All India Radio / Newsonair)
27 June 2025: Court asserts its own competence
- The same Court of Arbitration issued a supplemental award, reasserting its own competence to hear the case. India objects that the Court isn’t legitimately constituted in the first place, and rejected this award too. (Source: The Print)
23 April 2025: treaty placed in abeyance
- India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack killed 26 people. (Source: Deccan Herald)
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