Govt Plans Chenab, Jhelum Projects To Triple Indus Water Intake After Treaty Put In Abeyance: Report

New Delhi is exploring plans to significantly increase the amount of water it draws from rivers allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, as part of a broader retaliatory move following a deadly April attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir, according to a Reuters report citing multiple sources familiar with the developments.

The Indus Waters Treaty was suspended by India shortly after the April 22 attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. After a ceasefire agreed upon last week following the worst cross-border violence in decades, the treaty remains in abeyance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the wake of the attack, directed officials to expedite planning and execution of projects along the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers—three rivers primarily reserved for Pakistan’s use under the treaty, according to six people cited by Reuters.

One of the major projects under consideration is the expansion of the Ranbir canal on the Chenab river, which currently delivers around 40 cubic metres of water per second to India. The plan proposes to more than triple the volume to 150 cubic metres per second and double the canal’s length to 120 kilometres, two sources told Reuters. The Ranbir canal, built in the 19th century, predates the treaty and runs from India to Pakistan’s agriculturally vital Punjab province.

Reuters reported that discussions on the expansion began last month and continue despite the ceasefire. The Indian government ministries for water and foreign affairs, as well as the Prime Minister’s Office and hydropower firm NHPC, did not respond to queries from the agency.

In a recent speech, Prime Minister Modi declared, “Water and blood cannot flow together,” although he made no direct reference to the treaty. On Tuesday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters that India “will keep the treaty in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.”

In response, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stated that Islamabad considers India’s suspension of the treaty unlawful and maintains that the agreement is still in effect.

The stakes are high: approximately 80 percent of Pakistan’s farms and nearly all of its hydropower projects depend on the Indus river system. After India began maintenance work on some Indus projects in early May, water flow at a key receiving point in Pakistan reportedly dropped by as much as 90 percent, according to Reuters's report.

Govt Considering Redistributing Water From Indus, Chenab, Jhelum Rivers To 3 Northern States

India is also considering redistributing water from the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum rivers to three northern states. Reuters cited a government document, prepared after the April attack, suggesting such a move for irrigation purposes. Additionally, Delhi has drawn up a list of hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir aimed at expanding capacity from 3,360 megawatts to 12,000 megawatts. The proposed projects include five large-scale water storage dams, four of which are located on tributaries of the Chenab and Jhelum rivers.

The geopolitical tensions over Kashmir—a region claimed by both nations but administered in parts—remain a key flashpoint. “With the latest conflict, Delhi may refuse to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan in any format,” Happymon Jacob, an international relations expert at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Reuters. “Delhi has not only progressively narrowed the scope of bilateral talks but has also curtailed the agenda, focusing only on specific issues like the IWT.”

Islamabad has said it is preparing to take legal recourse in international forums, including the World Bank, which brokered the treaty, and potentially the Permanent Court of Arbitration or the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

“Water should not be weaponised,” Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters. “We don’t even want to consider any scenario which … does not take into account the reinstatement of this treaty.”

David Michel, a water security expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, warned that India’s move could set a dangerous precedent. “As geopolitical competition across the region deepens, more than a few Indian observers fear that Delhi’s use of water against Islamabad risks licensing Beijing to adopt the same strategy against India,” he said, as quoted by the report.

The Indus river system originates near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, flows through northern India and eastern Pakistan, and empties into the Arabian Sea. While India is allowed unrestricted use of the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers under the treaty, it is largely limited to low-impact hydropower projects on the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers.

Islamabad had earlier warned that it would view any attempt to stop or divert water flow to Pakistan as an “act of war.”

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