Indus Waters Treaty will be in abeyance till Pakistan irrevocably stops sponsoring cross-border terrorism: Govt.

📌 Summary:

• MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal (July 3, 2026) reiterated that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) will remain in "abeyance" until Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably" ends support for cross-border terrorism
• The remark responded to an international conference held in Pakistan that had called for restoration of the treaty
• India placed the 1960 World Bank-brokered treaty in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack; explicitly linking water-sharing to cessation of terrorism marks a strategic shift
• Pakistan is simultaneously grappling with a severe heatwave, sharpening its water-security anxieties

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Internal Security (using treaty leverage against cross-border terrorism) and GS2 IR (India-Pakistan relations, treaty diplomacy)

📝 Prelims Facts:

• IWT signed in 1960, brokered by the World Bank; signed by Jawaharlal Nehru and Ayub Khan
• Eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) allotted to India; Western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) largely to Pakistan
• The treaty contains no unilateral exit clause; India has used "abeyance" as its instrument

🔑 Key Term: Abeyance — a temporary suspension of the treaty's operation, short of formal withdrawal.