LAHORE, 31 October 2026 — The University of Lahore (UOL) convened a national dialogue on “The Indus Waters Treaty and Pakistan’s National Security,” bringing together political, parliamentary, journalistic and academic voices to examine an issue speakers described as inseparable from national survival.

Thanking participants, UOL Board of Governors Chairman Awais Raoof said the university had the honour of initiating the idea of discussing national issues at university level, and was now hosting its seventh back-to-back seminar on a national issue in the past one and a half months. The series is run by the university’s Centre of Policy and Nation Building (CPNB), under the presidentship of Munir A. Khan.

“There will be no compromise on Pakistan’s integrity, sovereignty and defence.”— Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan

Speaker: a “fundamental change of circumstances”

Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan commended UOL for providing a platform for dialogue, saying such debates properly belong in Parliament and provincial assemblies, but universities are now filling the vacuum left at the parliamentary level. He described India’s unilateral action as a fundamental change of circumstances.

He acknowledged that both provinces harbour genuine fears: Sindh dreads obstruction and denial of flows to lower riparian regions, while Punjab grapples with acute problems of availability. He urged legislators of both provinces to dispel misunderstandings through sustained dialogue and forge a joint water strategy, affirming the nation’s commitment to peace and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Sindh’s downstream anxieties

Senator and PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khoro described Pakistan as the lower riparian country of the region and Sindh as the lower riparian province of Pakistan, insisting that in any distribution of water the interests and apprehensions of downstream regions must never be brushed aside. He noted that the problem has persisted for nearly a century, recalled that a Sindh proposal to use rainwater to hold back the advancing sea was once met with ridicule, and said Sindh was never given even a fixed quantity of the water it was promised. Nothing, he said, stands in the way of resolving the issue, and Pakistan’s leadership has adopted a firm and resolute position.

Sindh’s Provincial Minister for Universities and Boards, Muhammad Ismail Rahoo, sounded the alarm over the threat to the province’s coastline. The sea, he said, has already swallowed thousands of acres across several districts, owing chiefly to reduced flows to lower riparian areas. He noted damage to sugarcane from water shortages and warned that, if the situation persists, even Karachi could eventually fall under threat.

Legal and diplomatic response

Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan explained the treaty and set out a forward-looking strategy, underlining the urgent need for effective, decisive measures. Indus Waters Commissioner Syed Mehar Ali Shah drew attention to rapidly shifting environmental conditions, saying India’s unilateral attempt to terminate the treaty has opened a new diplomatic and political space for Pakistan. He called the move a deliberate assault on the stable framework of regional water-sharing and argued that concrete diplomatic and legal action is indispensable to compel India to reverse its decision. He also recalled Pakistan’s fundamental decision to expand its irrigated acreage.

Former WAPDA Chairman Lt. Gen. (R) Muzammil Hussain said India had been working to render the treaty ineffective by various means even before its unilateral action in 2025. He stated that after the 2025 war, Pakistan has made its position unmistakably clear: any attempt to stop its water will be regarded as an act of war. He also stressed efficient use, storage and management of water within the country.

History, pollution and the Chenab

Senior journalist Suhail Warraich called the treaty the second most important positive undertaking for the subcontinent since Partition in 1947, giving the region a predictable water-sharing system, and urged that negotiation and dialogue be prioritised. He argued that threats from India turned Pakistan into a security state, with grave consequences for democratic processes, and, citing the Musharraf era, stressed the need to open trade and water routes between the two countries.

Former senator and Punjab Minister for Irrigation and Finance Mohsin Leghari observed that the treaty contains provisions against water pollution, yet both countries have breached them in different ways, adding that it brought continuity and predictability to supplies for irrigated farmland.

WAPDA Adviser Shahid Hameed described the Chenab as Pakistan’s most vulnerable river to potential Indian water manoeuvres, because all of its water originates in India. He disclosed that Pakistan has planned four dams on the Chenab to counter such interventions. IRSA Member Punjab Amjad Saeed briefed participants on the river system and the architecture of the Indus Basin, explaining how water is apportioned and underscoring equitable distribution.

Former Federal Secretary for Water Resources Irfan Ali said the World Bank leaned toward India when the treaty was signed, but that Pakistan cannot simply walk away from the agreement in present circumstances. He noted that the Ravi, which flows through Lahore, was assigned to India under the treaty, and urged Pakistan to intensify regional diplomatic pressure in concert with China.

Who spoke

A six-pillar national strategy

The dialogue closed with a firm call for a coordinated national strategy to meet Pakistan’s water challenges. Speakers stressed that the country’s agricultural economy, food security and future economic and national interests depend on the prudent use and equitable distribution of its water resources.

Faith & Freedom News (FFN). Source: press release issued by The University of Lahore.