Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday raised the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) difficulty on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, describing water because the area’s “lifeline” and asserting that it mustn’t ever be weaponised for “political leverage.”
Addressing the SCO Council of Heads of State, Sharif described water because the “lifeblood” of the area and stated it sustains tens of millions of lives, helps agriculture and is essential to the way forward for generations to come back. “Water won’t be allowed for use as a weapon,” Sharif stated, arguing that shared water assets should not be become an instrument of coercion or political leverage.
“The treaties governing our shared waters are solemn binding worldwide commitments. They aren’t issues of political conveniences to be solid apart at your will. They should be honoured unconditionally in each letter and spirit,” he stated.
Sharif’s remarks got here a day after India rejected a ruling by the Hague-based Court of Arbitration that the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty stays legally binding and that the dispute-resolution mechanism below the pact can proceed to look at disagreements between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has maintained that the tribunal is “illegally constituted” and has no jurisdiction over the matter.
The Pakistani Prime Minister additionally linked the water dispute to the broader query of regional peace, saying South Asia couldn’t realise its full potential with out lasting peace. He pressured the necessity for diplomacy and regional cooperation in managing shared water assets.
INDIA REJECTS HAGUE COURT’S RULING
The most recent change has added to tensions between India and Pakistan over the Indus Waters Treaty, which has been in abeyance since India’s determination to droop its operation following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror assault, during which 26 individuals have been killed.
The Hague-based Courtroom of Arbitration has dominated that the treaty stays legally binding and that the dispute-resolution mechanism established below it may well proceed to look at disputes between the 2 nations.
India, nonetheless, has rejected the ruling, saying it neither recognised the Courtroom of Arbitration nor participated in its proceedings and doesn’t settle for its jurisdiction.
The Ministry of Exterior Affairs has described the tribunal as an “illegally constituted” physique, arguing that it was created in violation of the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.
New Delhi has additionally asserted that the court docket has “no jurisdiction in any way” over India’s sovereign choices. It has stated the tribunal’s current or future pronouncements could have no bearing on India’s actions regarding hydroelectric tasks.
India has additional made clear that its determination to maintain the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance stays in power, regardless of the tribunal’s place that the pact continues to function.
PM MODI’S FIRM MESSAGE AGAINST TERRORISM AT SCO
Sharif’s feedback got here after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the SCO summit, the place India placed terrorism at the centre of its message. PM Modi referred to as on SCO member states to behave towards all the ecosystem supporting terrorism, together with terror financing, recruitment, radicalisation and protected havens.
“Terrorism continues to pose a critical problem to humanity as a complete. Within the combat towards terrorism, we can’t stay confined to an action-reaction strategy,” he stated.
He additionally warned towards “double standards” in the fight against terrorism and stated nations that present shelter or help to terrorists should face a powerful worldwide response.
“We should dismantle all the ecosystem of terrorist financing, recruitment, radicalisation, and protected havens. We should converse with one voice and make it clear that there may be no place for double requirements on this critical difficulty,” PM Modi stated.
“We should ship a powerful message to nations that use terrorism as an instrument of coverage and supply protected haven and help to terrorists that terrorism can by no means be a strategic asset for anybody,” he added.
For India, the SCO represents a confluence of nice civilisations, cultures and concepts, Modi stated. He outlined three key pillars of India’s imaginative and prescient for the grouping: safety, connectivity and alternative.
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