Dushanbe, May 26,2026: Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Musadik Malik on Tuesday accused India of attempting to politicise shared water resources in violation of longstanding international commitments, including the Indus Waters Treaty.
Addressing the fourth international conference on the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development in Dushanbe, Malik warned that efforts to undermine international water-sharing agreements could threaten the rights of downstream countries worldwide.
“Water aggression is unacceptable,” the minister said, stressing that no country should be allowed to weaponise water resources or suspend international treaties unilaterally while depriving other nations of their lawful water rights.
He urged India to honour the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty and respect international mediation mechanisms, cautioning that any move to place the treaty in abeyance would create “a dangerous precedent” for downstream nations globally.
Musadik Malik also expressed concern over what he described as the weakening of multilateral cooperation in international affairs.
He said cooperative global frameworks were increasingly being replaced by unilateral approaches, warning that upstream countries could exploit such trends to pressure vulnerable downstream states by restricting access to shared water resources.
Calling access to clean water a fundamental human right, the minister highlighted the vulnerability of farmers and rural communities in developing countries to disruptions in water supply.
The minister also drew attention to Pakistan’s growing climate crisis, noting that the country remains among the nations most severely affected by global warming.
He said recurring floods and extreme weather events had caused widespread destruction to infrastructure, agriculture, and livelihoods across the country.
Musadik Malik warned that increasingly frequent “super floods” were intensifying economic pressures and contributing to food insecurity through declining agricultural productivity.
During the conference, Malik emphasised the urgent need for regional collaboration on glacier preservation and ecosystem protection.
He noted that both Pakistan and Tajikistan host nearly 13,000 glaciers each, adding that both countries have already lost around 1,000 glaciers due to rising global temperatures.
The minister called for stronger cross-border coordination to monitor glacial melt, preserve shared ecosystems, and enhance cooperation on regional climate protocols and wildlife conservation initiatives.
He concluded by urging the international community to strengthen enforcement mechanisms for global water-sharing agreements, saying that compliance with transboundary water treaties remains one of the major unresolved global challenges.
