IBA KARACHI HOSTED A POLICY ROUNDTABLE – “INDUS WATER TREATY IN PERSPECTIVE

Karachi Pakistan, 2025 : IBA Karachi hosted a Policy Roundtable “Indus Water Treaty in Perspective”, to discuss the implications of the India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in April 2025, at the City Campus. The event was organized by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at SESS.
Experts highlighted a critical lack of institutional capacity to engage and respond meaningfully with the treaty’s
technical and legal dimensions on diplomatic fronts. While academic institutions in Pakistan teach water-related
subjects, they emphasized the urgent need to strengthen expertise in international water law and transboundary
water diplomacy. Participants also discussed how prevailing media narratives about India’s “blocking water” have
misguided public as such claims are technically unfeasible without large-scale infrastructure and serve more as
political tools than realities.
Participants noted that the World Bank role is not clear regarding the resolution of this dispute, and without an
institutional conflict resolution mechanism between the two countries, the treaty's ability to adapt to new
challenges remains limited. Some of the experts warn that building new dams is not a solution, as Pakistan lacks
sufficient water stock and is facing long-term water flow decline. In conclusion, participants called for the
establishment of a multi-stakeholder working group under the umbrella of IBA-CBER that meets regularly to
deliberate on national and regional water strategies and provide actionable recommendations to modernize and
strengthen the Indus Water Treaty.
The session brought together government officials, journalists, and academicians to engage in dialogue on the topic,
moderated by Dr. Lubna Naz, Director, IBA-CBER. Notable participants included Mr. Muhammad Ehsan ul Haq
Laghari, Sindh Member, Indus River System Authority; Mr. Shahab Usto, Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan; Mr.
Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Member on IBA’s Board of Governors and Director, Institute of Historical and Social Research;
Mr. Hafeez Ahmed Jamali, Director General, Balochistan Civil Service Academy; Mr. Syed Hasan Habib, Former
Ambassador; Mr. Syed Imran Ahmed, Director, Panjwani Hisaar Water Institute; Mr. Yasir Husain, Founder, Climate
Action Center; Mr. Zakir Hussain Dahri, Director General, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council; Ms. Afia Salam,
Journalist; Mr. Bakhshal Khan Lashari, Emeritus Professor, U.S. Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water; Mr.
Khurram Husain, Journalist; Ms. Raheema Panhwar, Water Aid; Mr. Naseer Memon, Climate Change Expert; Dr. Aadil
Nakhoda, Assistant Professor, IBA Karachi; Dr. Fazilda Nabeel, LUMS; Ms. Saba Aslam, PhD Candidate, University of
Cambridge; Mr. Nasir Mansoor, General Secretary, National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan, and Mr. Farzand Ali,
Integrated Research Solutions Global.