Indus Waters Treaty to be kept in abeyance as Pakistan resorted to cross-border terror: source

The Indus Waters Treaty has to be modified to ‘make it suitable for the 21st century requirements of the Indian state’, the senior official said, adding there would be rapid infrastructure development works in the rivers that were a part of the treaty

India will keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance as Pakistan had resorted to cross-border terrorism, a highly placed government official told The Hindu here on Sunday (May 11, 2025). Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror camps inside Pakistan, had created a “new normal” under which India will hit “harder, bigger, stronger” inside Pakistan if cross-border terror attacks continued, the source said.

The source, who was part of the decision-making process behind Operation Sindoor, said that despite the “understanding” of May 10, the Indian counter-terror campaign had not ended, and New Delhi was unwilling to engage in a dialogue with Pakistan as, “There is nothing to discuss at the moment even at a neutral location.”

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The Indus Waters Treaty has to be modified to “make it suitable for the 21st century requirements of the Indian state’, the senior official said, and there would be rapid infrastructure development works in the rivers that were a part of the treaty. “The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 as a sign of goodwill between the two countries. But Pakistan has actually placed goodwill in abeyance with its use of terrorism against India,” the senior official said, adding that the decisions concerning the treaty would be part of a new, uncompromising orientation towards Pakistan.

“There is a new normal now. It is based on this understanding that if you hit us, we will hit you, and we will hit Pakistan harder, bigger, and stronger in response to terror attacks. We have maintained from the beginning that India did not escalate this matter and that it was Pakistan that started it [the escalation of hostilities] with the brutal attack in Pahalgam,” the source said.

The source argued that the “understanding” between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan that was reached on May 10 came against the backdrop of India hitting eight airbases scattered across Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh which, the official added, prompted Pakistan to reach out to a some international stakeholders, and ultimately led to the DGMO of Pakistan contacting his Indian counterpart, seeking the pause in firing, and military action.

India has accused Pakistan of violating the “understanding” soon after it was announced by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in a post on social media platform X.

Officials described the selection of targets for ‘Operation Sindoor’ as a message for the Pakistani deep state and Inter-Services Intelligence, with Bahawalpur, Muridke, and Muzaffarabad seen as “symbols of the Pakistan deep state’s ties to cross-border terrorism”. These three locations, and most importantly Bahawalpur, have been active for decades, and Indian security establishment has watched Bahawalpur grow into a hub of training and indoctrination for terrorism since the days of Afghan jihad in the 1980s. Recognising its long history of terrorism against India, the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s headquarters in Bahawalpur was hit “with the most potent weapon available with the Indian Air Force”.

The source emphasised that India did not consider the May 10 “understanding” as a ceasefire, arguing that Pakistan had been violating the DGMO-level ceasefire of 2021 repeatedly, rendering the exercise unsuccessful. As a result, India considers Pakistan’s “entire landscape” as a legitimate target if Pakistan-based terror outfits carried out strikes in India.

The official said an Indian team would soon be leaving to submit the findings of the Pahalgam terror attack before the 1267 Committee of the United Nations Security Council.

Responding to a question on U.S. President Donald Trump’s involvement in backdoor diplomacy to ensure a pause in firing and military action, the source maintained that the United States had been engaged with India from the moment the news of the massacre in Pahalgam had become known, but that had not softened New Delhi’s position.

“President Trump called PM Modi, who was at that time travelling in Saudi Arabia, to convey his condolences and express solidarity. Subsequently, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance called to find out what our response was going to be. We heard them but assured that there should be no doubt that we were going to hit Pakistan harder this time,” the official said, adding that the eight Pakistan Airbases that India had hit on the intervening night of May 9-10 were spread from Chaklala to Rahim Yar Khan and Jacobabad, which hinted at the reach of the Indian forces in engaging in a military confrontation with Pakistan.

Published - May 11, 2025 11:36 pm IST