Union Home Minister Amit Shah has clearly stated that India will not restore the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. In an interview with The Times of India, he said, “No, it will never be restored,” when asked about the future of the 64-year-old agreement. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 to manage water sharing between India and Pakistan from the Indus River system. But the agreement was suspended by India after a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22 that killed 26 civilians. India blamed Pakistan for supporting cross-border terrorism and decided to put the treaty “in abeyance.”

According to the report, Shah also added that India plans to use the river water for its own people. “We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” he said.

The move comes despite a ceasefire between the two countries, which are both nuclear-armed. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack. Since the suspension, Pakistan has repeatedly asked India to reconsider its decision. Pakistan’s water resources secretary, Syed Ali Murtaza, has written at least four letters to India’s Jal Shakti Ministry asking for a review, especially after India carried out “Operation Sindoor” in response to the attack.

Islamabad says that India’s move violates the Indus Waters Treaty, which does not allow either side to suspend it unilaterally. However, India stands firm on its decision and maintains that “talks and terror cannot go together.” India has refused any form of dialogue with Pakistan until it stops supporting terrorist groups within its borders.

India formally informed Pakistan about the suspension of the treaty on April 24. In the official letter, India’s water resources secretary, Debashree Mukherjee, stated, “The obligation to honour a treaty in good faith is fundamental. However, what we have seen instead is sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting Jammu and Kashmir.”

The Indus Waters Treaty has been one of the very few peaceful agreements between India and Pakistan, even during times of conflict. However, with rising tensions and continued terrorist threats, that cooperation now seems to have reached a breaking point.