'Blood and Water Will Not Flow Together': S Jaishankar Describes How India Suspended Indus Waters Treaty

Parliament Monsoon Session: As Parliament continued its debate on Operation Sindoor, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Tuesday defended the government’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in April. Declaring that “blood and water will not flow together,” he described the suspension as a historic and necessary step, aimed at holding Pakistan accountable for cross-border terrorism.

Jaishankar began by condoling the deaths of civilians in the April 22 Pahalgam attack and outlined the government's two-pronged response: the attack was “absolutely unacceptable” and had crossed India's red lines, warranting both accountability and justice. He said those responsible, the perpetrators and their supporters, must be brought to justice.

The most consequential step, he emphasised, came the day after the attack, when the Cabinet Committee on Security decided to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. “There has to be consequences when red lines are crossed,” he told the House.

Highlighting the uniqueness of the 1960 treaty, Jaishankar said, “I cannot think of any agreement in the world where a country has allowed its major rivers to flow to the next country without having rights on that. So it was an extraordinary agreement.”

He noted that the treaty itself mentions in its preamble that it was done “in a spirit of goodwill and friendship.” To this, Jaishankar responded sharply, “Since 1960, we have had neither goodwill nor friendship. We've had terrorism. We've had attacks on our population. We've had wars. Such a treaty had to be dealt with, and this government dealt with it.”

To give context, Jaishankar invoked Parliament’s own records from November 30, 1960, when the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru defended the treaty despite opposition. Jaishankar quoted Nehru as saying, “Is this House now to judge the quantum of supply of water or the quantum of money to be given? I confess, I cannot judge it offhand.”

He also cited Nehru's remarks that opposition to the treaty was “neither a strictly legal, constitutional or just approach,” and quoted him further: “If we follow that approach, it would mean turning a great part of West Punjab into almost a wilderness.” West Punjab refers to present-day Pakistani Punjab.

Slamming what he called "appeasement politics", Jaishankar said, “So the Prime Minister is saying, let us do this treaty because the Indian Parliament, the Indian government, the country, should put the interests of Pakistani Punjab [first]. Not a word about the interests of the kisan of Kashmir, of the people of Punjab.”

He criticised the Opposition for being selective about history and said the current government had the courage to correct what it considered historical wrongs. “We grew up with the belief that nothing can be done. We were told for 60 years that nothing can be done. Pandit Nehru’s mistakes cannot be corrected. The Narendra Modi government shows it can be corrected,” he said.

Citing examples, Jaishankar noted that Article 370 had been abrogated and the Indus Waters Treaty was now suspended. “It will be held in abeyance until Pakistan irrevocably gives up its support of terrorism.”

He reminded the House of the government’s long-standing warning: “Blood and water cannot flow together,” and declared, “Today, we are demonstrating that what we say, we will do.”

Turning to Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar said its objectives were laid out within half an hour of the operation commencing. The goal was to strike terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the sources of repeated attacks against India. He underlined that the operation was “focused, measured and non-escalatory” and reinforced India’s commitment at the United Nations Security Council to hold accountable those responsible for terror attacks.

The ongoing monsoon session has seen sharp exchanges over Operation Sindoor and the government’s response to the Pahalgam attack. Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Lok Sabha that no country intervened or stopped India during the operation. He warned of “decisive responses” if Pakistan tried anything in the future and criticised the Congress for allegedly echoing Pakistan’s narrative.