India turns off tap. Prime Minister: Water will not be supplied outside the country's borders

India will retain water that has so far been shipped outside the country for domestic use, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday. In April, India suspended a water-sharing agreement with Pakistan after a terrorist attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people.

"Earlier, water from India was given to other (countries). Now, water from India will flow for the good of the country; we will retain it for India's interests and it will be used by us," Modi said, addressing the India Summit 2047 in the capital Delhi. The event is aimed at attracting investors ahead of India's 100th anniversary of independence in 2047.

As Reuters noted, the prime minister did not expand on the topic during his speech.

After the April 22, 2025 terrorist attack, Indian authorities closed their land border with Pakistan and downgraded diplomatic relations. Delhi also suspended the 1960 Indus River Waters Treaty with Islamabad, negotiated by the World Bank. Under the treaty, three rivers of the Indus Basin—the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—were given to India, while the Indus itself and the Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan. Under the agreement, India provided water to 80 percent of Pakistani farms. The sector contributes almost 25 percent to Pakistan's GDP. Experts expressed concerns that India would "use access to water as a weapon."

India has accused Pakistan of being responsible for the attack, which it called the "deadliest attack on civilians in the region since 2000." Pakistan has immediately rejected the accusations, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling them "baseless."

Prime Minister Modi promised to hunt down "terrorists" and their accomplices "until the end of the world."

After the Kashmir attack, India identified two suspected militants as Pakistanis. Islamabad denied any role in the attack and called for a neutral investigation. Since then, there has been constant exchange of fire across the demarcation line between the two countries in the disputed Kashmir region.

The UN Security Council has called on both nuclear-armed countries to exercise "maximum restraint". China has taken a similar stance. Saudi Arabia has said it is taking "actions to avoid escalation", while Iran and Switzerland have offered mediation. Kashmir, inhabited mainly by Muslims, belongs partly to India and partly to Pakistan, but both countries claim the entire region. Since 1989, an anti-India rebellion has been going on in Indian Kashmir, which has already cost tens of thousands of lives. India accuses Pakistan of supporting it. (PAP)

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