India holds the legitimate right to use suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) as a strategic weapon against Pakistan

Following the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on April 20, India took a series of calculated actions against Pakistan, including the suspension of the IWT.

India holds the legitimate right to use the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) as a strategic weapon against Pakistan, and no one can prevent New Delhi from doing so, a prominent Defence expert has said.

After the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, India took a series of calculated actions against Pakistan, which included the suspension of the IWT.

In addition, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ targeting high-value terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

On May 10, a ceasefire understanding was reached between India and Pakistan, after which Islamabad demanded the lifting of the IWT suspension.

Speaking to IANS, Brigadier Vijay Sagar Dheman (Retd), a Defence expert, said, "In the CCS meeting held on April 20, one of the decisions taken was to suspend the Indus Water Treaty, and after that we would start planning how to take revenge for the Pahalgam massacre."

"Due to IWT suspension, we stopped sharing of water data which was done daily earlier, plus we started filling our Baglihar Dam and Salal Dam. What happened was that the water level of Pakistan, the Indus River, went down even further and there was a possibility of some damage to their crops and along with that, the water level of their dams, Tarbela Dam or Diamer-Bhasha Dam, went down impacting electricity generation."

"Then we said that we are opening all our gates for desilting. So, we did desilting of our dams in this way, and we created a flood situation for Pakistan. Due to that, when there was a flood in Pakistan's Punjab, they also suffered a lot of losses," he added.

Responding to concerns that India cannot unilaterally exit an international treaty, Brigadier Dheman said, "People within India are saying that this is an international treaty, brokered by the World Bank, so how can you exit it unilaterally? We can do that under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969. It is very clear in its Articles 60 and 62 that if any such incident occurs, then we can walk out unilaterally."

"Who can stop us from leaving? Pakistan will suffer damage. So, I would like to say that we can use this treaty as a weapon. And we have just shown the trailer to Pakistan."