China's Flawed Narrative On India's Indus Water Treaty Abeyance

2025-05-21 07:01:28

(MENAFN- Asia Times) The April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, India, and military clashes that followed between India and Pakistan have reignited fears of a renewed spiral of tensions between the two neighbours. Even though the two sides have agreed to a US-mediated ceasefire for now, India has not withdrawn its decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) – a historic agreement that long survived hostile bilateral relations.

India has been mulling over the possibility of stopping the water flow of rivers flowing toward Pakistan.

It's important to note that 80% of river water in Pakistan passes through or originates from India – a strategic asset that India has not used thus far in its battle against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism. International laws and conventions do allow a country to take recourse to such measures, in case the other party engages in unlawful conduct such as cross-border terrorism.

Yet, what deserves closer scrutiny is China's reaction. As an upper riparian state, China's narrative on India's Indus water decision reveals more about Beijing's geopolitical calculus than about any principled stance on transboundary water management.

China's double standards

Despite official proclamations of neutrality, Chinese commentators have largely cast India's suspension of the IWT in a negative light, framing it as a form of unlawful coercive diplomacy rather than a response to the Pahalgam terror attack in India from across the border. Articles published on Chinese media platforms such as Baidu – with titles such as“Water is a Weapon – paint India's decision as a manifestation of a strategy aimed at destabilizing regional equilibrium under the guise of treaty reinterpretation.

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