IWT among world's strongest agreements, cannot be suspended unilaterally: Musadik Malik

Islamabad (Web Desk): Federal Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik on Tuesday urged the global community to adopt a legally enforceable international covenant on the governance of shared water resources, saying the world is facing more than a climate or water emergency—it is confronting a “crisis of justice” that threatens the rights, food security and livelihoods of people living downstream.

Speaking at the international seminar titled “Indus Waters Treaty: An Instrument of Peace and Regional Stability,” Malik used the story of Pakistani farmer Iqbal Solangi to demonstrate the devastating human consequences of climate-related disasters.

He said Solangi’s family had farmed the same land for seven to eight generations before repeated floods completely changed their lives.

The minister explained that Solangi’s farmland was first destroyed during the catastrophic floods of 2010. After rebuilding his livelihood, another flood struck in 2012, forcing him to leave farming temporarily to support his family through other means.

Once conditions improved, he returned to agriculture, but the devastating floods of 2022 once again wiped out everything he owned.

His livestock perished, his house and his children’s schools were swept away, his family was displaced, and he was eventually forced to give up farming altogether, most likely turning to labour work in Karachi.

Malik said Solangi’s experience is far from an isolated case, describing it as a reflection of the hardships faced by millions of people across the globe.

He referred to farmers and fishermen in Bangladesh whose livelihoods depend on steady water flows, saying that when water fails to reach them, fishermen are left without a catch and farmers are unable to grow crops.

The minister also highlighted the daily struggle of women in Africa’s Sahel region, who walk nearly four miles in each direction every day simply to collect a single bucket of water after rivers near their communities have receded because upstream water flows were interrupted.

He added that similar situations are unfolding along the Nile River, in the marshlands of the Tigris, around the former Aral Sea and throughout the Mekong basin, describing all of them as different examples of the same worldwide challenge.

Malik added that these events should not merely be classified as floods or droughts but should instead be recognised as cases where entire communities are losing control over the water they depend upon.

“The danger is not just too little water or too much water,” he said. “The danger is that someone else, who is not you, controls the tap through which your water is going to flow.”

Pointing to fluctuations in water levels at Marala, the minister said the flow rose from 1,500 cusecs to 78,000 cusecs before dropping back to 1,500 cusecs despite there being no rainfall. He argued that the only possible explanation for such dramatic changes was that the flow of water was being controlled elsewhere.

Malik emphasised that nearly half of Pakistan’s population, estimated at around 120 million people, depends directly on agriculture, while almost one-quarter of the country's economy and its entire food security system rely on a dependable supply of water.

He stressed that the issue must therefore be understood as one of justice rather than being viewed only through the lens of climate change or water shortages.

“Solangi didn’t build the dams. Solangi didn’t break any treaty. Solangi didn’t elect the man who controls the tap. And yet, it’s Solangi’s life that gets devastated,” he said.

The minister also connected the water issue with climate change, stating that the neighbouring country claiming authority over water flows is also the world's third-largest polluter.

He said rising greenhouse gas emissions are increasing global temperatures, accelerating glacier melt and intensifying downstream flooding.

He said these developments have resulted in 6,000 deaths, 19,000 people being injured or permanently disabled, and the displacement of around 40 million people over the past 15 years.

He further noted that prolonged displacement has severely affected education, estimating that three months away from home has collectively cost children nearly 1.8 billion school days.

Malik added that the same outside decisions that determine when devastating floods occur also decide when water is withheld long enough for agricultural land to dry up and become permanently infertile.

Discussing the Indus Waters Treaty, the minister described it as one of the strongest international agreements ever negotiated, noting that it had remained in force despite three wars between two nuclear-armed neighbours.

He warned that if such an agreement could no longer be respected, confidence in the international treaty system established after the Second World War would also be weakened.

Questioning the purpose of global agreements, Malik asked what value international treaties hold if any country can independently suspend them, place them in abeyance or simply walk away from its obligations.

Referring to the legal doctrine pacta sunt servanda, which requires treaties to be honoured, he said that, in his opinion, the agreement had not actually been suspended but had instead been “revealed” before the international community.

The minister also referred to previous international legal proceedings concerning the treaty, saying court decisions had at times favoured Pakistan and at other times favoured the neighbouring country, with both parties accepting those rulings.

He added that a later judgment established technical guidelines for the design and operation of water infrastructure while confirming that no country has the authority to decide unilaterally how shared water resources should be regulated or withheld.

However, Malik said the neighbouring country later rejected the court’s jurisdiction, raising wider concerns about the authority of international legal institutions and the future of the global rules-based order.

He cautioned that allowing any state to ignore international courts and treaty commitments would create a dangerous precedent with consequences extending well beyond Pakistan.

“We can take care of ourselves,” he said, adding that no one could stop Pakistan’s water. “But what about the rest of the world?”

Malik pointed out that rivers shared by several countries—including those connected to the Netherlands, Portugal, the Danube basin and the Nile—show that almost every nation is located downstream from another.

He argued that the precedent being established would effectively deprive downstream countries of their water rights and leave billions of people without adequate legal protection.

Musadiq said the matter should therefore not be viewed solely as Pakistan’s concern but as a global test of safeguarding the rights of downstream nations.

The minister questioned why the international community has binding institutions governing trade and nuclear proliferation but lacks equally strong legal mechanisms for managing shared water resources, agriculture, food security and access to safe drinking water.

Malik urged world leaders and policymakers to move beyond the non-binding declarations frequently adopted at United Nations forums and instead create an enforceable international framework.

“There must be a covenant which has political consequences, which has economic consequences, which has diplomatic consequences,” the climate change minister said, concluding with an appeal to the international community to “rise now, or hold your peace forever.”