3 min readNew DelhiJul 21, 2026 05:20 AM IST
A year after India put the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) “in abeyance” following the Pahalgam terror attack, it is pushing for speedy development of hydropower projects on the Chenab with a combined capacity of over 5,000 megawatts and renegotiation of the six-decade-old pact, government sources said on Monday.
According to sources, the government has assessed that the pact has outlived its utility and is ready to renegotiate it with Pakistan to make it more balanced. “IWT, in its present form, cannot function again,” said a top source. Pakistan, sources said, has not shown any signs of ending cross-border terrorism against India — a pre-condition for resuming cooperation under the IWT.
For any future reactivation of the river water-sharing provisions, the treaty would need to be renegotiated in a modified format — a step that remains contingent on Islamabad permanently halting its support for terrorism directed against India, sources said.
The Indian Express has learnt that Delhi’s key priority is the speedy completion of hydropower projects on the Chenab — 1,856 MW Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project, 1,000 MW Pakal Dul Project, 850 MW Ratle Project, 624 MW Kiru Project, and 540 MW Kwar Project.
While the Kiru and Pakal projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year, the remaining are expected to be completed in the next two-three years, sources said.
These projects are critical for India’s clean energy transition, grid stability and regional development, and will substantially enhance India’s hydropower capacity while enabling the fuller utilisation of its legitimate rights under the Indus basin, said sources.
“Together with accelerated hydropower development and modern basin management, these initiatives will ensure that India’s legitimate share of the Indus waters is utilised efficiently, sustainably and in accordance with its long-term developmental, water security and clean energy objectives,” sources said.
Story continues below this ad
Putting the Indian approach in context, since Pakistan has been trying to mobilise global opinion in its favour, sources said the IWT was negotiated and implemented in a spirit of goodwill, friendship and peaceful coexistence.
“Like any enduring international arrangement, it depended not merely on legal obligations but on mutual trust, reciprocity and good faith. For over six decades, India honoured both the letter and spirit of the treaty, maintaining uninterrupted implementation even during wars, military crises and prolonged periods of bilateral hostility,” said sources.
Pakistan, however, simultaneously pursued a sustained policy of cross-border terrorism against India, added the sources. “Such conduct has fundamentally destroyed the atmosphere of trust necessary for cooperative implementation of the treaty. Agreements of this nature cannot remain insulated from persistent acts of hostility and terrorism,” the sources said.