GUWAHATI: India has briefly stopped the flow of water through the Baglihar dam on the Chenab River. The move, though temporary, signals a strategic warning to Pakistan as diplomatic ties between the two countries plunge further. The decision follows India's announcement to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, a 1960 agreement brokered by the World Bank, which governs the sharing of rivers between the two countries. Under the treaty, Pakistan is entitled to unrestricted use of the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — while India can use them for limited agricultural and hydroelectric purposes without altering the flow.
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The Baglihar project, a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban, generates 900 megawatts of electricity. Built in two phases completed in 2008 and 2015, the dam cannot store large volumes of water and must release it once a threshold is reached. Officials clarified that the current stoppage is within treaty limits, but its timing underlines India's strategic messaging.
A similar measure is reportedly being considered for the Kishanganga hydroelectric project in Bandipore, which has a 330 MW capacity. Like Baglihar, it is also a run-of-the-river project and has faced objections from Pakistan. Islamabad has long maintained that both dams violate the Indus Waters Treaty, claiming that design features such as gated spillways on Baglihar could allow India to manipulate water flows during conflict.
While Pakistan took the Baglihar dispute to the World Bank, an appointed expert upheld only some of its concerns and allowed India to retain the dam’s current structure. A separate arbitration case over Kishanganga also ended in New Delhi’s favour, allowing India to proceed despite Pakistan’s objections over inter-tributary water diversion.
With Baglihar unable to store water beyond a certain level, India’s current move to withhold flow is short-term. Any longer disruption would require physical changes to the dam’s infrastructure — a process that cannot be executed quickly.
Pakistan has reiterated its long-standing warning that any attempt to cut off water would be treated as an act of war. It has threatened to suspend all existing bilateral agreements, including the Simla Agreement, which underpins the Line of Control.
Tensions between the two nations have surged after the Pahalgam attack, which killed 25 tourists and a local resident.
