Putting a water treaty on hold is not the same as stopping a river.
The dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty reveals how water, security and political narratives intersect in a changing South Asia. Understanding it requires looking beyond diplomatic accusations to the infrastructure that controls water—and the institutions that determine who receives it.
For Europe, where competing accounts of the dispute seek to influence policy debates, this distinction matters. How can European policymakers assess claims about water security while listening to affected communities on both sides of the border?
In Indus Water Treaty – Countering Pakistan’s War of Narratives, Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf defends India’s decision to place the treaty in abeyance. He argues that its longstanding restrictions disadvantage Indian communities and that Pakistan’s water crisis owes much to domestic inequalities and failures of governance. He also challenges the equation of treaty abeyance with an immediate physical blockade of downstream flows.
The article offers a forceful perspective on a wider challenge: how can regional cooperation address changing security conditions, climate pressures and local development needs?
Read Dr. Wolf’s full analysis on Substack.
Understanding South Asia. Connecting Europe.
