India has reiterated that the Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance until Pakistan ends its support for cross-border terrorism, delivering a sharp rebuke to Islamabad during a United Nations Security Council debate where Pakistan raised the treaty and the Kashmir issue.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador P Harish, said cooperation under the 1960 water-sharing agreement cannot continue in an atmosphere where terrorism is used as an instrument of state policy.
“Our position on the Indus Water Treaty remains clear and consistent,” Harish said during the UNSC’s high-level open debate on ‘Natural Resource Governance: The Foundation of Peace, Security and Prosperity’.
“Cooperation on the basis of mutual trust and goodwill cannot be expected when cross-border terrorism is regularly deployed as an instrument of State policy,” he added.
Pakistan raises Indus treaty, Kashmir at UNSC
Harish’s remarks came after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, criticised India’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and linked it to the Kashmir issue during the debate.
Responding to Pakistan, Harish accused Islamabad of misusing the forum to advance what he described as a “false narrative”.
“It was not our intention to bring other issues in this forum, but my delegation is compelled to respond to Pakistan, as it has chosen to misuse today’s discussion to peddle its false narrative,” he said.
India reiterates position on Jammu and Kashmir
Reaffirming New Delhi’s long-standing stand, Harish said Jammu and Kashmir “has always been, is, and will remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.
He said this was India’s constitutional and legal position and asserted that the only unresolved issue related to Jammu and Kashmir was what he described as Pakistan’s “illegal occupation” of Indian territory.
“The only outstanding issue with regard to Jammu and Kashmir is the naked aggression and illegal occupation of India’s sovereign territory by Pakistan,” he said.
Treaty suspended after Pahalgam terror attack
India placed the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance after the April 2026 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 24 people were killed. New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based terrorists for the attack.
Following the suspension, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “water and blood cannot flow together”, linking the move to India’s response against cross-border terrorism.
India asks Pakistan to address internal issues
Concluding his remarks, Harish urged Pakistan to focus on its own challenges instead of criticising India.
“Instead of pointing fingers at India, Pakistan would serve itself and its people far better by putting its own house in order,” he said.