Pak says diverting Indus water ‘act of war’, suspends Simla pact | India News

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Pakistan unleashed a barrage of counter-retaliatory measures against India Thursday, declaring any move to disrupt water flows under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) an act of war, suspending the 1972 Simla Agreement, and severing all trade, travel and diplomatic ties – including closure of airspace for Indian flights.
Pakistan said it will respond to any attempt to divert water with “full force across the complete spectrum of national power”.
This is serious escalation coming from a country that has long maintained red lines about use of its nuclear arsenal, one of which has been the economic strangling of Pakistan. The chief of the strategic plans division of Pakistan army had in 2002 told a European agency that economic strangling included a naval blockade and “the stopping of the waters of the Indus river”. While there was no official response from Indian authorities to Pakistan’s threat, government sources said Pakistan should first unleash “full force” against cross-border terrorism.

Pakistan maintains the IWT co-signed by the World Bank doesn’t allow either country to unilaterally suspend the agreement. As the lower riparian state, Pakistan has concerns about the flow of water from the river system in India but its threat to use full force is likely to exacerbate the already tense situation between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Unilateral, unjust & motivated: Pak on India’s moves

The drastic steps, announced after an emergency National Security Committee (NSC) meeting chaired by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, are in response to India’s actions following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. NSC declared India’s IWT suspension “illegal,” emphasising the 1960 treaty’s inviolability as a World Bank-brokered pact governing six Indus Basin rivers critical for Pakistan’s 240 million people. “Any attempt to stop or divert water flows will be an act of war,” NSC warned, signalling zero tolerance for disruptions to Pakistan’s agricultural lifeline.
India, attributing the Pahalgam attack to Pakistan-based terror group The Resistance Front, a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy, suspended the IWT, closed the Wagah-Attari border, revoked Saarc visa exemptions for Pakistanis, expelled Pakistani military advisers, and slashed Pakistan’s High Commission staff in New Delhi to 30. Pakistan, denying involvement and condemning the attack, mirrored and escalated these measures, framing India’s moves as “unilateral, unjust and politically motivated.”
Pakistan closed the Wagah border to all Indian transit, effective immediately, with an April 30 deadline for valid crossings, mirroring India’s Attari-Wagah closure. All trade with India, including via third countries, was suspended, devastating cross-border commerce.
Airspace was barred to Indian-owned or operated airlines. Saarc visa exemptions for Indians were revoked, except for Sikh pilgrims, with Indian nationals given 48 hours to leave. Indian defence advisers were declared persona non grata, ordered out by April 30, and their posts annulled. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad was capped at 30 staff, matching India’s restrictions.
The IWT’s suspension is the crisis’s most alarming flashpoint. Resilient through three wars, the treaty ensures equitable water sharing, with India controlling three eastern rivers and Pakistan the western three. India’s move, experts say, risks catastrophic consequences for Pakistan’s agriculture-dependent economy. Pakistan’s “act of war” rhetoric, while partly posturing, reflects the issue’s existential stakes.
The collapse of the Simla Agreement and diplomatic channels heightens LoC tensions, where skirmishes could spiral without communication. Mutual airspace and trade bans exacerbate economic strain, particularly for traders reliant on Wagah. The crisis also undermines regional cooperation, with Saarc’s already fragile framework further eroded by visa restrictions.