- No nation should be allowed to use water as weapon: Malik.
- Urges India to honour international mediation mechanisms.
- Malik voices concern over decline of multilateralism globally.
Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Musadik Malik on Tuesday said that India was attempting to politicise shared water resources in violation of long-standing international commitments, including the Indus Water Treaty.
Addressing the fourth international conference on the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development in Dushanbe, the minister warned that efforts to undermine international water-sharing agreements could jeopardise the rights of downstream nations.
“Water aggression is unacceptable,” Malik said, stressing that no country should be allowed to use water as a weapon or suspend international agreements unilaterally while depriving other nations of their lawful water rights.
The minister urged India to respect the 1960 IWT and honour international mediation mechanisms, warning that any attempt to place the treaty in abeyance “would set a dangerous precedent” for downstream countries around the world.
Malik expressed concern over the decline of multilateralism in global affairs, saying cooperative international frameworks were increasingly being replaced by unilateral approaches.
He warned that upstream countries could exploit the ongoing trend to pressure vulnerable downstream states by restricting access to shared water resources.
Calling access to clean water a fundamental human right, Malik said that farmers and rural communities in developing nations were particularly vulnerable to disruptions in water supply.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s growing climate challenges, saying the country remained among the nations most severely affected by global warming.
Recurrent floods and extreme weather events, he said, have devastated infrastructure, damaged agricultural lands, and disrupted livelihoods across Pakistan.
The minister warned that increasingly frequent “super floods” are intensifying economic pressure on the country and contributing to food security concerns through declining agricultural productivity.
During the conference, Malik also emphasised the urgent need for regional cooperation on glacial melt and ecosystem preservation.
He noted that both Pakistan and Tajikistan hosted nearly 13,000 glaciers each and have lost approximately 1,000 glaciers because of rising global temperatures.
He called for stronger cross-border coordination to monitor shrinking glaciers and protect shared ecosystems, while also engaging in discussions on regional climate and conservation protocols, including cooperation on wildlife protection initiatives.
Malik concluded by urging stronger international commitment to the enforcement of global water-sharing agreements, saying compliance with transboundary water treaties remained one of the major unresolved challenges facing the international community.
