ISLAMABAD- Amidst heightened diplomatic tensions, India has reportedly extended a goodwill gesture to Pakistan by alerting Islamabad about a potential major flood situation in the Tawi River in Jammu. This information was conveyed via the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on August 24, according to Pakistani media reports citing official sources.

This communication is significant because the usual channel for such inputs, the Indus Waters Treaty channel governed by the Indus Water Commissioners, remains in abeyance. India had suspended the treaty’s regular information sharing a day after the Pahalgam terror attack. This suspension meant India had stopped sharing water level data in the three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) with Pakistan, a practice crucial during the monsoon season for issuing timely flood evacuation warnings in Pakistan’s low-lying areas.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, governs the use of the Indus River and its tributaries between the two nations. It allocates the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) primarily to Pakistan and the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India, while allowing each country certain uses of the rivers allocated to the other. The treaty gives Pakistan 80 percent of the water from the Indus River System and India 20 percent. The Indus River itself originates in Tibet, flows through Kashmir, and then traverses the entire length of Pakistan.

While there has been no official confirmation from either government, if the Pakistani media claims are true, this marks the first time India has used its diplomatic mission to convey this kind of flood-related information since the IWT channel was put in abeyance. 

The alert comes as the monsoon season continues to devastate Pakistan. 

with india westnews desk