‘Pani chahiye, pani?’ BJP MP PC Mohan shares images of Pakistan's Chenab river drying up after Indus treaty suspension

Days after India officially suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in response to Pakistan’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism, following the Pahalgam terror attack, BJP MP from Bengaluru Central, PC Mohan, took to social media platform X on Tuesday to claim that India’s action is already showing impact on the ground. 

He shared satellite imagery allegedly depicting a visible drop in water levels of the Chenab river near Sialkot, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province. “India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty is drying up the Chenab River near Sialkot in Pakistan. Pani chahiye, pani? ” Mohan wrote, in a pointed remark aimed at Pakistan.

India had suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) last week. The decision was made during a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by senior ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, reported the Hindustan Times.

The move marks a significant escalation in India’s diplomatic stance towards Pakistan, linking water-sharing arrangements directly with national security concerns. The suspension will remain in effect until Pakistan “credibly and irreversibly” renounces its backing of terrorism and shuts down the integrated Attari Check Post — a key land trade and travel route between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, governs the sharing of waters of the six rivers of the Indus river system between India and Pakistan. Under the treaty, India has control over the eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—while Pakistan was granted rights over the western rivers—Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. Any deviation from this framework could have wide-ranging geopolitical, ecological and humanitarian consequences, especially for downstream populations in Pakistan.

Reacting to the Centre’s decision, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the move, calling it long overdue. Speaking to the media, Abdullah reiterated his longstanding opposition to the treaty, describing it as “the most unfair document” for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “As far as J&K is concerned, we have never been in favour of the Indus Water Treaty,” he said.

Altering or suspending the treaty could trigger international legal scrutiny and possibly bring the World Bank or United Nations into the fray. However, Indian officials maintain that national security and sovereignty must come first, especially in the face of Pakistan’s alleged use of terror as state policy.