‘No Compliance While Terror Continues’: Sources Hit Back At Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar On Indus Waters

Last Updated:August 29, 2026, 03:46 IST

The remarks came after Dar claimed that the IWT remains “fully valid, binding” and operative, and rejected India’s decision to put the treaty in abeyance.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar

After Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar warned India against any attempt to deprive Pakistan of waters allocated to it under the Indus Waters Treaty, a top government source told CNN-News18 that Islamabad cannot expect “full, non-reciprocal compliance” and data-sharing while continuing to target Indian citizens and security forces.

“Water security and national security are interlinked and Pakistan cannot expect full, non reciprocal compliance and data-sharing from India while continuing to target Indian citizens and security forces,” the source said.

The remarks came after Dar claimed that the IWT remains fully valid, binding and operative, and rejected India’s decision to put the treaty in abeyance. He made the comments at a seminar in Washington on Friday.

Dar Warns Against ‘Weaponisation’ Of Water

Dar said any attempt to deprive Pakistan of waters allocated to it under the treaty would have “profound consequences” for regional peace and security. He described the IWT as facing its “gravest challenge” since it was signed in 1960.

“The Treaty endured because both countries understood that waters upon which hundreds of millions of lives depend are too fundamental to be subjected to the fluctuations of political relations. Today, however, that principle faces its gravest challenge,” Dar said.

He called for dialogue, transparent data-sharing and greater technical engagement, arguing that climate change had made cooperation “absolutely essential”.

“Water security for Pakistan is therefore inseparable from economic security, food security and, ultimately, national security,” he said.

Dar also defended Pakistan’s use of treaty dispute mechanisms, saying: “We have invoked Treaty mechanisms because that is what the Treaty requires. Resort to the Permanent Indus Commission, a Neutral Expert or a Court of Arbitration is not an act of confrontation.”

Intel Sources Question Pakistan’s Treaty Record

Countering Dar’s claims, the intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that Pakistan had itself weakened the credibility of the treaty’s dispute-resolution mechanisms by repeatedly bypassing the bilateral framework under Article IX.

The sources said Pakistan’s pursuit of parallel processes, including a Neutral Expert and a Court of Arbitration, led to “conflicting procedural rulings and politicised technical hydro-projects like Kishanganga and Ratle”.

The source further added that India’s formal demand to modify the treaty under Article XII(3) was a direct response to Pakistan’s “bad-faith obstruction” of India’s legitimate rights to develop run-of-the-river hydropower projects.

Quick Answers

Powered by

Ask News18

What are the “profound consequences” Dar warned about?

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar warned that any attempt to deprive Pakistan of its allocated water under the Indus Waters Treaty would have “profound consequences” for regional peace and security.

How will India respond to Pakistan’s treaty claims?

India will not restore the Indus Waters Treaty in its current form unless Pakistan permanently ends cross-border terrorism against India. Any future river-sharing arrangement would require a revised framework. India has also called for the renegotiation of the treaty due to changing climatic and demographic conditions since the 1950s.

Could the Indus Waters Treaty be modified or ended?

The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) cannot continue in its present form and will not function again unless renegotiated. India has stated that the cross-border water-sharing arrangement must be renegotiated due to changed climatic and demographic situations since the 1950s.

Powered by

Ask News18

About the Author

Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations and Security Affairs, Network18

Read More