ISIS First Used Water as a Weapon in the Iraq-Syria Conflict, Says Mian Kashif Mahmood
India Is Committing "Hydro-Terrorism," Says PAT Central Deputy Secretary General
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Central Deputy Secretary General Mian Kashif Mahmood has described India's unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) as a grave act of "hydro-terrorism," urging the Government of Pakistan to publicly outline its diplomatic and legal strategy for securing the treaty's restoration.
Addressing the issue, Mian Kashif Mahmood said that the first documented example of hydro-terrorism emerged during the Iraq-Syria conflict in 2014, when the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) systematically weaponized water resources. According to him, ISIS seized major dams and water infrastructure along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and deliberately opened floodgates, inundating entire towns, destroying homes, crops, and livestock, and forcing large-scale displacement of civilian populations.
He alleged that India is now pursuing a similar policy by attempting to use water as a political and strategic weapon against Pakistan. "India must be prevented from continuing this unlawful course of action," he said.
Mian Kashif Mahmood emphasized that under established principles of international law, an upstream state has no right to interfere with the natural flow of shared rivers or use water as an instrument of political coercion or warfare. He maintained that India's actions constitute a clear violation of these internationally accepted norms.
He noted that the Indus Waters Treaty, which has governed water-sharing arrangements between Pakistan and India for the past 65 years, has remained one of the world's most enduring international water agreements. Its unilateral suspension, he said, is not merely a regional concern but a violation of international legal commitments.
"The people of Pakistan have the right to know what diplomatic, legal, and strategic measures the government has adopted to counter India's hydro-terrorism," he stated, adding that India's actions could threaten the water security and food security of a country of more than 250 million people.
He further observed that even during armed conflicts, international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on water infrastructure and water reserves because water is indispensable to human survival. In this regard, he referred to Article 54 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, including drinking water installations and irrigation systems.
He also cited United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/292, which recognizes access to safe and clean drinking water as a fundamental human right, arguing that India's alleged violation of the Indus Waters Treaty undermines this universally recognized right.
Concluding his statement, Mian Kashif Mahmood said that the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is not merely a political dispute but fundamentally a legal issue. He urged Pakistan to pursue all available diplomatic and legal avenues to ensure the treaty's restoration and full implementation, stressing that no further delay should be tolerated in defending the country's water rights.
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