In a Newsweek opinion piece, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, pushed back against India's portrayal of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) as an asymmetric deal, accusing New Delhi of distorting its history, structure, and purpose. "India has been advancing this narrative with increasing frequency since its unlawful pronouncement in April 2025 to hold the Treaty 'in abeyance.' It appears intended to retrospectively justify a unilateral action that finds no basis either in the Treaty itself or in international law."
"The IWT is a binding international agreement concluded on September 19, 1960 after decade-long negotiations facilitated by the World Bank. It was neither an act of Indian generosity nor a concession to Pakistan. To describe this arrangement as inherently unfair is to disregard circumstances in which the Treaty was negotiated and the carefully calibrated balance embodied in its provisions."
Sheikh rejected India's claims that Pakistan had obstructed Indian hydropower development. "Equally misplaced is the assertion that Pakistan has sought to impede India's hydropower development. Pakistan's recourse to dispute-settlement mechanisms under Article IX is not obstruction but the exercise of rights expressly afforded by the Treaty."
Sheikh said India's unilateral decision to place the treaty in abeyance could not change its legal status. "The IWT contains no provision allowing either party unilaterally to suspend it, place it 'in abeyance,' or terminate it. Pakistan remains committed to the faithful implementation of the IWT in its letter and spirit, and India should rescind its unilateral measures."