Pakistan Peoples Party leader Senator Sherry Rehman has said that India’s use of water as a weapon will further escalate tensions in already strained and distrustful Pakistan–India relations.
According to sources, this development comes just days after the Indian government approved the 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on the Chenab River in the Kishtwar district of Indian-occupied Kashmir. According to a Saturday report by the Indian newspaper The Hindu, a panel of India’s Ministry of Environment has approved the Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherry Rehman wrote on her X account that using water as a weapon is neither rational nor acceptable for a region that is on the front line of climate change and environmental stress. She made these remarks in response to India’s approval of dam construction on the Chenab River, calling it a blatant violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.
The senator explained that under the Indus Waters Treaty—which cannot be unilaterally terminated, as recently confirmed by UN observers—Pakistan has rights over the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers, while the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers fall under India’s control.
The PPP senator stated that following the illegal suspension of the treaty, India has decided to fast-track several controversial hydropower projects in the Indus basin. She said these projects include Sawalkot, Ratle, Bursar, Pakal Dul, Kiru, Kwar, and Karthai 1 and 2. Dulhasti Stage-II is also considered part of the same strategy. Pakistan has already protested the Baglihar Dam shown in the accompanying image as a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.
