‘Not a single drop will flow to Pakistan,’ says Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil on Indus waters: Report

India clearly stated on Tuesday that the government is clear that Pakistan will not be receiving any water from the Indus river system in the years to come. Union jal shakti minister CR Patil said that the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries has not been terminated but is currently in 'abeyance', and that the government is making efforts to stop the flow of water into Pakistan.

“It still stands; rather, the treaty has been kept in abeyance. And since Prime Minister Modi took this decision, every effort is being made to ensure not a single drop flows there,” Patil said in an interview with ANI.

He also revealed that the issue is under the scrutiny of the highest government levels. “Under the Prime Minister's directives, Home Minister Amit Shah is also personally monitoring the matter, and we are actively working on it. I believe the work is proceeding in a time-bound manner. It is certain—not a single drop of water will go in the coming years; I can tell you that much,” the minister further stated, as per the report.

A Court of Arbitration (COA) on the treaty at the Hague on 15 May, 2026, had issued an award, which was categorically rejected by India. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had then said, "“India categorically rejects the present so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements of the illegally constituted CoA,” and added that any decision or directions issued by the CoA was "null and void".

What Pakistan said regarding the IWT

Pakistan claimed last week that India's plans to build a river-linking project to divert water from Chenab would be a "grave violation" of the Indus Waters Treaty and other international laws.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi was reacting to questions about media reports that said India is planning to tunnel Chenab water to the Beas river, both part of the Indus basin.

The IWT, brokered by the World Bank, has governed the distribution and use of the Indus river and its tributaries between India and Pakistan.

"Yes, we have seen this report as well as the public tender document issued by the government of India that India has invited bids for the Chenab-Beas Link Tunnel project with the intention of transferring 1.9 million acre feet (MAF) of water annually from Chenab into the Beas system.

"Such an inter-basin diversion of water of the Chenab into the Beas system constitutes a grave violation of not just the IWT but also of the laws of treaty, particularly the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, as well as the broader framework of international water law, including the principles reflected in the 1977 UN convention on watercourses," he claimed, as per a PTI report.

Under the IWT, Pakistan received the entire flows from the three western rivers, Chenab, Jhelum and Indus, while India had complete rights over the three eastern rivers, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi.

Andrabi also said that India's plan to silt flushing of the Salal Dam was not permissible under either the IWT or the 1978 Salal agreement.

With agency inputs