IWT suspended, India shares flood data with Pakistan on humanitarian grounds: MEA

The rainfall has also led to an increase in the level of several trans-border rivers, which were hitherto under the now-suspended Indus Waters Treaty of 1960

Published on: Sep 5, 2025, 21:11:00 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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NEW DELHI: India on Friday said it has been sharing flood data with Pakistan through diplomatic channels purely on a humanitarian basis after the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in April.

Gates of Salal Dam have been opened as water levels in the Chenab river rise following heavy rainfall in the region, in Reasi on Friday. (ANI Video Grab)

Both India and Pakistan have witnessed unusually heavy rainfall in recent weeks that have triggered heavy floods in parts of the two countries. The rainfall has also led to an increase in the level of several trans-border rivers, which were under the now-suspended Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

India decided to put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance as part of a package of punitive diplomatic and economic measures adopted soon after the Pahalgam terror attack in April that killed 26 civilians. Indian officials have said the attack was carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In May, India launched Operation Sindoor to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in response to the terror attack.

“We have been sharing high flood data with Pakistan through our diplomatic channels as and when it is required. This sharing of data is happening through our high commission in Islamabad,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular weekly media briefing.

“You’ve seen the kind of rainfall that is happening in that part of India and that part of the world. And this is being done based on humanitarian considerations,” he said while explaining the rationale for the sharing of the flood data.

Despite the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, India shared information about severe weather and potential heavy flooding with Pakistan in August, out of concern for public safety, as several cross-border rivers were in spate.

After the treaty was suspended, India didn’t share any hydrological data under any mechanism of the pact, including the Indus Waters Commission.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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