Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Musadik Malik, has alleged that India is manipulating the flow of the Indus River system by “holding and releasing, holding and then flooding” to disrupt Pakistan’s crop patterns and food security.
In an interview with Bloomberg in London on Monday, Malik pointed out that “when the water was needed for crop sowing, it was not available” over the past month. “It is to disturb the crop patterns and the food security of Pakistan,” he stated, adding that the government does not yet have estimates for the extent of crop damage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government unilaterally suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on April 22. In early May, as tensions escalated between the neighbors, the Chenab river’s water flow to Pakistan was reportedly cut by nearly 90% below its usual volume, according to Muhammad Khalid Idrees Rana, spokesman for Pakistan’s Indus River System Authority.
The Times of India had reported that India has been flushing and desilting reservoirs at the Baglihar and Salal hydropower projects on the Chenab, which can disrupt normal flows, and plans other maintenance measures during the treaty suspension.
“Because they don’t have storage dams, they have not been able to materially affect us,” Malik said. He further warned that “if they start to build the storage dams, it would be deemed as an act of war,” reiterating the administration’s stance.
Malik mentioned that Pakistan had responded to India’s requests over the past year to renegotiate the treaty, as both water-scarce nations confront increasing pressure from climate change and population growth. However, he added that India failed to specify which clauses it wished to discuss.
Speaking about the military clashes between Pakistan and India last month, the minister acknowledged that Donald Trump’s administration, along with several other countries including the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, were “very instrumental in bringing about the ceasefire.”
Malik is part of the Bilawal Bhutto-led delegation currently tasked with presenting Pakistan’s perspective on the recent conflict with India to the international community and countering New Delhi’s narrative. The delegation is currently in London after visiting the United States, with Brussels as their next destination.
