ISLAMABAD: Pakistan must overhaul its water management system “on a war footing,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with intensifying climate threats and renewed tensions with neighboring India over transboundary river flows.
Hostility between nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India is high after they struck a ceasefire on May 10 following their most intense military confrontation in decades. The latest escalation, in which the two countries’ militaries traded missile, drones and artillery fire, was sparked after India accused Pakistan of supporting militants who attacked dozens of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, killing 26. Islamabad denies involvement.
Following the attack, Delhi unilaterally “put in abeyance” the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs the usage of the Indus river system. The accord has not been revived despite the rivals agreeing on a ceasefire on May 10.
Delivering the federal budget speech for fiscal year 2025–26, the finance minister said India’s decision to suspend the decades-old water sharing mechanism had added urgency to the longstanding issue of water security.
“In recent days, following the Pakistan-India war, India has threatened to block the waters meant for Pakistan. India is trying to use water as a weapon. I want to make it clear that water is vital to Pakistan’s survival and no stoppage in this regard will be tolerated,” Aurangzeb told parliament during the budget speech.
