Pakistan wrote to India about restarting talks on Indus Waters Treaty, say sources

Pakistan’s ‘polite’ letter to India for restarting talks on the IWT doesn’t mention air strikes or India’s surprise release of Baglihar-Salal water

Pakistan has said it is willing to restart talks with India regarding the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) which India has kept in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attacks, government sources, on condition of anonymity, confirmed to The Hindu on Thursday (May 15, 2025).

A letter from Pakistan’s Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Syed Ali Murtaza, received “a week ago,” – sources said, to India’s Water Secretary, Debashree Mukherkjee, on May 8 asked for India to nominate representatives who could engage in talks with Pakistan’s Indus Commissioner. The Hindu couldn’t independently confirm the contents of this letter.

The Hindu has written to Mr. Murtaza but has not received a comment. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told journalists on Thursday: “The Indus Waters Treaty is held in abeyance and will continue to be held in abeyance until the cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped.”

As per the IWT, both India and Pakistan have Indus Commissioners who lead delegations for talks regarding water-sharing aspects governing the Treaty which has been in force since 1960. India had however said, last September, that no more meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) would be held till the governments of India and Pakistan meet and discuss the renegotiation of the IWT. The last meeting reportedly happened in Delhi in May 2022. Since January 2023, India has written four times to Pakistan to initiate talks on revising the treaty but, according to sources, not received a “satisfactory response.”

“India’s position is that re-negotiation of the treaty could be done only government-government and not by Indus Commission representatives. Pakistan offered to meet at a neutral venue but we proposed that we meet in Islamabad. Following this there was a silence for 4-5 months and now they have sent us this letter,” a person, familiar with the contents of Mr. Murtaza’s latest letter, told The Hindu.

The letter, sources said, has Pakistan’s objecting to India’s action of keeping the IWT in abeyance and violative of the terms of the treaty. However it says Pakisan is willing to meet and would like to begin the process for arranging the necessary logistics. The letter makes no mention of India’s surprise-water releases from the Baglihar and Salal dams on the May 5. “It was polite letter,” the person added. India hasn’t taken a call on the response to the letter.

Under the terms of the IWT, India cannot create significant hydropower storage on the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab — and must maintain water levels at prescribed levels, to ensure that no untoward flooding or disruption of Pakistan’s agriculture happens. Its prominent hydropower projects on these rivers, such as the Kishenganga and Baglihar projects, are run-of-the-river, meaning they divert the river’s flow to generate electricity. These projects do not halt the flow by creating storage structures, though in nearly all the disputes over the years regarding hydel projects, Pakistan has accused India of modifying the design of structures to be able to perniciously control the flow of the rivers. India had then clarified that its intentions were purely to keep the projects running in optimal conditions.

Pakistan’s ‘polite’ letter to India for restarting talks on the IWT doesn’t mention air strikes or India’s surprise release of Baglihar-Salal water

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