Domestic Water Issues

• Pakistan is water-stressed — moving toward water scarcity (per capita availability dropped from ~5,000 m³ in 1947 to under 1,000 m³ now)
• Indus Water Treaty (1960) — divides rivers: Pakistan gets Western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab), India gets Eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej); brokered by World Bank
• Inter-provincial disputes — Sindh vs Punjab over water distribution from Indus; addressed (imperfectly) via 1991 Water Apportionment Accord
• Kalabagh Dam — perennially controversial (Sindh, KP, Balochistan oppose; Punjab supports) — symbol of inter-provincial water mistrust
• Low water storage capacity — Pakistan can store only ~30 days of water vs recommended 120+ days (Tarbela, Mangla ageing/silting)

Regional/External Hydro-Politics

• India-Pakistan tension over IWT — India's upstream dam projects (Kishanganga, Ratle) raise Pakistani objections over treaty compliance
• April 2025 context: India suspended/held IWT in abeyance following Pahalgam attack fallout — treated as major escalation by Pakistan (treaty had survived wars/nuclearization until then)
• 1 September 2026 — Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled unanimously that India cannot unilaterally suspend the treaty; India rejected the ruling and abeyance continues. Full deep-dive with timeline, legal analysis, Pakistan's response and a model 20-mark answer is on the sub-page below.
• Afghanistan — disputes over Kabul River water usage (no formal treaty exists, unlike IWT)

Compounding Factors

• Climate change — glacial melt (Pakistan has more glaciers than anywhere outside polar regions) creating both flood risk (2022 floods) and long-term water insecurity
• Rapid population growth & inefficient agricultural water use (flood irrigation dominant)

Policy Responses

• National Water Policy (2018) — first unified framework
• Push for new dams (Diamer-Bhasha, Mohmand) for storage & hydropower

Exam angle

Distinguish clearly: (1) internal/inter-provincial water politics, (2) India-Pakistan transboundary water politics via IWT — examiners often ask these separately.

Indus Waters Treaty: Abeyance, Operation Sindoor & the 2026 Hague Ruling