The Taliban government in Afghanistan has ordered the rapid construction of dams on the Kunar River to restrict water flow to Pakistan. This directive came from Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, who instructed the Afghan Ministry of Water and Energy to start dam construction immediately with domestic companies leading the effort.

This decision follows India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan earlier in 2025, amid escalating regional tensions.​

The Kunar River, about 480 kilometres long, originates in the Hindu Kush mountains of north-eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. It flows through Afghan provinces before crossing into Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, where it joins the Kabul River near Jalalabad.

Together, these rivers ultimately feed the Indus River, which is essential to Pakistan’s irrigation, drinking water, and power generation, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces. Reduced flow from the Kunar would thus have cascading effects downstream on Pakistan’s agriculture and water security.​

Afghanistan and Pakistan currently have no formal bilateral water-sharing agreement, unlike the longstanding 1960 Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, which India has put in abeyance since April 2025 after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam by Pakistan-backed militants.

The Taliban’s move to limit water supply echoes India’s water policy stance and is seen as an assertion of Afghanistan’s water sovereignty amid ongoing conflicts along the Durand Line border with Pakistan.​

Despite rising tensions, India and Afghanistan have recently affirmed cooperation on hydropower projects, including India’s funding and partnership in the Salma (Afghan-India Friendship) Dam and the Shahtoot Dam project, aimed at enhancing water security and energy independence in Afghanistan.

These projects contrast with Afghanistan’s current unilateral move to restrict water to Pakistan, highlighting the complex regional water politics.​

Pakistan has expressed concerns that Afghanistan’s unilateral action could ignite a wider regional water crisis, especially given Pakistan’s existing challenges in energy and food security. The situation remains volatile as geopolitical and hydrological tensions mount in the India-Afghanistan-Pakistan triangle.​

Afghanistan, following India’s lead, is taking significant steps to control trans-boundary water resources by building dams on the Kunar River, signaling a new phase of water security assertion that could escalate regional tensions with Pakistan.

Summary:

Taliban order to build dams on Kunar River to restrict water to Pakistan​

Kunar River and its significance to Pakistan’s water needs​

Suspension of Indus Waters Treaty by India​

India-Afghanistan hydropower cooperation​

Pakistan’s concerns over regional water crisis​

Based On India Today Report