Pakistan is hosting a daylong international conference on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on Tuesday, bringing together local and international experts on water and international law as Islamabad seeks to reinforce its case against India’s suspension of the decades-old water-sharing agreement.
Keynote Address and Participants
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the conference, which will also feature speeches by federal ministers alongside Pakistani and foreign experts discussing the treaty’s legal foundations, regional security implications, and conflict prevention mechanisms.
“Under this seminar, awareness will be given that what is Pakistan’s right on water, on rivers according to the Indus Waters Treaty, what is that right, what is its nature, and what are its different aspects,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a news conference on Monday. “So, this is a first-of-its-kind international seminar.”
Conference Title and Context
The conference, titled “Indus Waters Treaty as an Enduring Legal and Institutional Framework,” comes as Pakistan continues to reject India’s decision to place the 1960 treaty “in abeyance” after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April 2025. Pakistan denied the allegations and has maintained that India cannot suspend the World Bank-brokered treaty unilaterally.
The inaugural session will be opened by Tarar. It will also be addressed by Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik and other federal cabinet members. The government said a day earlier that the participation of international experts reflected growing global recognition of Pakistan’s legal position under the treaty.
Historical Background and Current Disputes
Signed in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty governs the sharing of the Indus river system between India and Pakistan and had survived, until last year, multiple wars and decades of strained relations between the two neighbors. Pakistan has accused India of pursuing reservoir, expansion, and diversion projects on rivers covered by the treaty and has vowed to pursue diplomatic and legal avenues to protect its water rights.
