Remark comes day after Pakistan sought clarification from India regarding variations in the flow of the Chenab river

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday accused India of “consistently attempting to undermine the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)”, claiming that the current material breaches strike at the heart of the pact. He said suspension of water would be considered as an act of war.

Dar, who is also the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, was addressing the media a day after Pakistan sought clarification from India regarding variations in the flow of the Chenab river. “We witnessed in April this year India’s unilateral abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty. But what we are witnessing now is material breaches by India that strike at the heart of the IWT, with escalating consequences both for regional stability and the sanctity of the international law,” he said.

A day after the Pahalgam attack on April 22, India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan, which included putting the 1960 Indus Water Treaty in “abeyance”.

Dar said the manipulation of the Indus basin waters at a critical time of agricultural cycle threatened lives and livelihood in Pakistan. He said India had halted sharing information, which had exposed Pakistan to floods and droughts.