Panic grips Pakistan as India threatens to halt water supply over Kashmir dispute.
LATIFABAD, Pakistan/NEW DELHI, April 27 (Reuters) –
Spraying pesticide on his withering crops just a street away from the dwindling Indus River, Pakistani farmer Homla Thakhur fears for his future. Under the scorching sun, the river runs dangerously low, and now India has threatened to cut off upstream water supplies following a deadly militant attack in Kashmir.
"If they stop the water, everything here will become a desert like Thar — the whole country will suffer," said the 40-year-old farmer, before heading back to the river to refill his spray tank. "We will die of hunger."
Thakhur’s 5-acre (2-hectare) farm lies in the Latifabad area of Sindh province, where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea after originating in Tibet and winding through India.
His concerns are shared by more than 15 farmers and several experts across Pakistan, especially with rainfall remaining scarce in recent years.
For the first time, India on Wednesday suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty — brokered by the World Bank — which guarantees Pakistan’s access to water vital for 80% of its agricultural land. India stated the suspension would remain until "Pakistan credibly and irrevocably renounces its support for cross-border terrorism."
New Delhi claims that two of the militants involved in the recent Kashmir attack, which killed 26 tourists, were Pakistani nationals. Islamabad has denied any involvement, warning that "any attempt to stop or divert Pakistan's rightful water share will be considered an act of war."
The original treaty had divided control of the Indus River and its tributaries between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Officials and experts on both sides acknowledge that India cannot immediately halt the river’s flow, as the treaty only permits it to build hydropower plants without creating large reservoirs or dams on the rivers allocated to Pakistan. However, they say the situation could begin to shift within a few months.
"We will ensure that not a single drop of the Indus River reaches Pakistan," India's Water Resources Minister Chandrakant Raghunath Paatil declared on X (formerly Twitter).
He did not address the growing fears in Pakistan.
Two Indian officials, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter, said India could soon begin diverting water for domestic agriculture using canals, while simultaneously working on new hydroelectric dams — a process that could take between four and seven years to complete.
Delhi records warmest April night in six years with temperature at 27.2°C.
Also read | Capital records 42.1°C; heatwave alerts issued for several parts of India
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