India warns Pakistan of potential Tawi River flooding despite Indus Waters Treaty pause

India has alerted Pakistan to the risk of high flooding in the Tawi River, sharing data through its High Commission in Islamabad even though formal cooperation under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has been in abeyance following Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office said the warning came via diplomatic channels rather than through the Indus Commissioners, the mechanism prescribed by the treaty.

According to media reports, Indian information was passed on humanitarian grounds amid heavy monsoon rains in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed receipt of the alert and publicly criticized New Delhi’s suspension of treaty cooperation, calling it a breach of international law. India has not issued a formal public statement in response.

The specific concern relates to the Tawi, a river that flows through Jammu city before crossing into Pakistan and joining the Chenab, one of the IWT-designated “western rivers.”

Pakistani officials said the message warned of possible “high flooding” but did not specify projected volumes. Background briefings and public references in Pakistan noted that any releases from upstream reservoirs, combined with sustained rainfall, could raise levels in the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab systems.

The alert arrives during a difficult monsoon spell on both sides of the border. As of Aug 25, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority has reported hundreds of flood-related deaths since late June, with continued heavy rain forecast into early September.

In India’s Jammu and Kashmir, local authorities have also reported dozens of fatalities and significant damage from rain-triggered incidents this month.

The IWT, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan, while allowing limited uses by each side and requiring timely data sharing and advance flood warnings.

Independent analyses and official texts emphasize that information exchange, especially on flood flows has been a key risk-reduction feature of the pact for decades.

India’s decision in April to place elements of the treaty “in abeyance,” taken after a deadly attack in Jammu and Kashmir that New Delhi linked to Pakistan (a claim Islamabad denies), disrupted regular commissioner-level exchanges.

Despite that pause, the latest warning indicates New Delhi used diplomatic channels to convey time-sensitive hydrological information.

Pakistan has publicly urged a return to formal treaty-compliant exchanges, while acknowledging that the immediate alert was received and acted upon domestically.