Indus Waters Treaty: Why India wants to renegotiate the pact with Pakistan

📌 Summary:

• India has kept the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) "in abeyance" after the Pahalgam terror attack; Pakistan held an "international" conference threatening war if river flows are disrupted, but has not responded to India's two notices to modify/renegotiate
• India argues renegotiation is normal: river systems are dynamic — flows, populations, technologies and data change, so water-sharing cannot be static
• Evidence of norm: of ~250 transboundary river treaties covering 113 river systems (2013 study), supplementary protocols/amendments took the total to 688 agreements; the Oregon State University freshwater database now lists over 800 — proof treaties are routinely reviewed
• India's 1996 Ganga treaty with Bangladesh has a 30-year validity and is itself due for renewal this year
• IWT is NOT static: Article VII lets the Permanent Indus Commission undertake new engineering works by mutual agreement (never used); Article XII allows modification "from time to time" only via a new inter-governmental treaty — India invoked this to serve Pakistan notices
• The push to review IWT predates the current stand-off; even Pakistani experts have long called for updating it; India's formal notice is the first such move from either side

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 IR — India-Pakistan relations, transboundary water diplomacy, treaty law; also links to GS3 water resources and internal security (cross-border terrorism)

📝 Prelims Facts:

• IWT signed 1960, brokered by the World Bank; allocates the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) largely to Pakistan
• Article VII (cooperative engineering works) and Article XII (modification) are the adaptability provisions
• Ganga Waters Treaty with Bangladesh (1996) has a 30-year term, due for renewal

🔑 Key Term: "In abeyance" — a state of temporary suspension; India has suspended, not abrogated, its obligations under the IWT.