Why a 66-year-old water treaty is becoming the latest India-Pakistan flashpoint

A view of Baglihar Dam, also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, on the Chenab river which flows from Indian Kashmir into Pakistan, at Chanderkote in Jammu region May 6, 2025. Stringer | Reuters A year after their last military conflict , tensions between India and Pakistan are rising again, this time over access to water from the Indus River basin. Pakistan's defense minister warned Friday that water security could become a cause for war if Islamabad believes its national interests are threatened. "The moment we feel our national security is under threat, and water is part of our national security, we will go to war [with India]," said Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the defense minister of Pakistan, in an interview with a local media outlet on Friday. He added, however, that current developments do not warrant military action. The minister's comments come as India pushes to terminate the 66-year-old Indus Water Treaty, which has remained suspended since last year's conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors. India's foreign ministry said on June 5 that the treaty would stay suspended "until Pakistan completely stops cross-border terrorism ." A few days later, India's water resource minister, C.R. Patil, hardened the government's position, saying New Delhi was working to ensure "the flow of Indus water to Pakistan will stop " and that Pakistan would not get a "single drop of water" in the coming years. …