Pakistan’s dependence on the Indus River system has become a growing strategic vulnerability, with a new global study warning that Islamabad faces acute risks of water shortages as India now holds the ability to alter river flows within its technical capacity.

According to the Ecological Threat Report 2025 by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), around 80 percent of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on water from the Indus basin. The report was released months after India placed the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack in April, which was carried out by Pakistan-based militants.

The suspension effectively freed New Delhi from its treaty-bound obligation to share the waters of the western rivers -- Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab -- w

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