India has strongly rejected Pakistan’s remarks at the United Nations, asserting that cooperation under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) cannot be expected when ‘cross-border terrorism’ is used as an ‘instrument of state policy’.

India also maintained that Jammu and Kashmir ‘has always been, is, and will remain’ an integral and inalienable part of the country.

The remarks were made on Wednesday (July 22, 2026), by India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, at the High-Level Open Debate of the UN Security Council on Natural Resources Governance: the Foundation of Peace, Security and Prosperity.

Responding to Pakistan, Mr. Parvathaneni said India was compelled to reply after Islamabad ‘misused’ the discussion to push a ‘false narrative’.

“Our position on the Indus Water Treaty remains clear and consistent. Cooperation on the basis of mutual trust and goodwill cannot be expected when cross-border terrorism is regularly deployed as an instrument of state policy,” Mr. Parvathaneni said.

India’s sharp rebuttal came after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, accused New Delhi of ‘weaponising water’ by placing the IWT in abeyance, calling the move ‘illegal’ and claiming it threatened the livelihoods of more than 240 million Pakistanis.

The IWT, signed in 1960, is a World Bank-brokered agreement between India and Pakistan that governs the sharing of the waters of the six rivers of the Indus basin, allocating the eastern rivers to India and the western rivers largely to Pakistan.

India put the IWT in abeyance following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, saying cooperation under the agreement cannot continue in the face of cross-border terrorism.

“As for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, it has always been, is, and will remain an integral and inalienable part of India. This is the constitutional and legal reality that Pakistan deliberately chooses to ignore,” the Indian envoy said while exercising India’s right of reply during the UN Security Council open debate.

“The only outstanding issue with regard to Jammu and Kashmir is the naked aggression and illegal occupation of India’s sovereign territory by Pakistan. Instead of pointing fingers at India, Pakistan would serve itself and its people far better by putting its own house in order,” he added.

During his address, Mr. Parvathaneni said the “illicit exploitation and trafficking of natural resources can, in certain situations, contribute to the financing of armed groups and prolong conflict,” but stressed that natural resources should primarily serve as an engine of development and prosperity for sovereign states.

He also highlighted that the primary responsibility for the governance and management of natural resources rests with sovereign states and called for transparent, accountable and nationally owned governance, along with responsible supply chains, greater transparency and stronger international cooperation to curb illicit exploitation of natural resources.

Pakistan said on Thursday (June 4, 2026) two river projects by arch-rival India would “weaponise” water and violate a major treaty between the neighbouring nations, threatening a response if they move ahead.

India, which has announced the two initiatives separately this year, insists it is within its rights to press ahead with projects on the waters it controls, even though rivers flowing though both countries would be impacted.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told journalists that New Delhi had not consulted Islamabad on the two Chenab River projects that he said would undermine the Indus Water Treaty.

“These projects confirm that India seems to weaponise water,” he said. “This carries dangerous implications not only for Pakistan’s economy but also for regional stability and international peace and security.”

India announced last year it was suspending the bilateral Indus Water Treaty that governs the use of waterways relied on by hundreds of millions, in the lead up to armed conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Mr. Andrabi, however, said the treaty still binds both governments.

Pakistan has previously said it would consider any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways an “act of war” and said there was no mechanism for either country to unilaterally withdraw from the 1960 pact that had survived three armed hostilities.

In May, India’s government-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation issued a tender notice for a proposed tunnel project that would transfer water from the Chenab River to the Beas basin.

India’s Power Ministry said in January it was undertaking “sediment removal” at Salal Power Station on the Chenab River “following the termination of the Indus Waters Treaty”.

Mr. Andrabi said that “any illegal measure to endanger Pakistan’s water, food and economic security as well as the survival and wellbeing of its 250 million people is unacceptable.”

“Pakistan will retain all options necessary for safeguarding rights under the treaty and to protect its vital national interest,” he said, without elaborating on a course of action.

Water risks becoming a flashpoint in a region grappling with climate change and population growth, which are stretching resources in the agricultural sectors that form the backbone of both countries’ economies, experts say.

India’s Foreign Ministry rejected a May 15 decision by what it termed the “illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration” — the Hague-based body used to resolve disputes between India and Pakistan related to the treaty.

Pakistan said the decision supported its stance that the treaty remained in effect, which New Delhi denied.

“India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains in force,” New Delhi’s Foreign Ministry said.

The water treaty provided a rare avenue of diplomatic engagement between the rival sides until India suspended its involvement following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in April 2025.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the attack, which Islamabad denies.

The two countries engaged in intense drone, missile and artillery exchanges the following month which left nearly 70 people dead on both sides.