India and Pakistan, two adjacent nations in Southern and Southeastern Asia, gained independence from British rule in 1947. Once the countries became sovereign, disputes regarding water from the Indus Basin, a critical body of water consisting of six rivers, predominantly in India and Pakistan, became increasingly common. After nine years of negotiations, the two nations signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960 to allocate crucial natural resources to both countries.

The Indus Water Treaty is one of the most successful international treaties in the world; however, after a military conflict between India and Pakistan that began in April 2025, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi suspended the treaty, attempting to increase India’s control of the basin. While infrastructure to control the basin would take India some time to complete, Pakistan’s existing water crisis would certainly worsen without access to this resource.

Pakistan’s Water Crisis

Water has always been scarce in Pakistan due to low rainfall in its alluvial plain climate, but currently, Pakistan could be one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. Administrative challenges and shortcomings – such as policy implementation delays, regulatory enforcement deficiencies, inefficient data collection and unsatisfactory climate adaptations – have hindered resource management and, as a result, access to water for people in Pakistan, significantly worsening the water crisis.

In June 2025, usable water reserves dropped drastically, with experts reporting a cumulative decrease of 723,000 feet over just four days. Pakistan experienced 67% less rainfall than usual in the winter 2024 to 2025, making the season one of the driest in the country’s history. The hardest-hit region, Sindh, recorded a 90% reduction in rainfall, and Pakistan’s agricultural center, Punjab, documented a 69% reduction.

As Pakistan relies on the basin’s water for around 90% of its agriculture, water from the Indus Basin is essential for food cultivation. Farming in Pakistan could be severely limited due to a lack of water from the basin, causing people to lose both livelihoods and access to indispensable crops.

Unstable Hydropower System

Because of an unstable hydropower system, Pakistan relies heavily on coal imports. A lack of water and an increased investment in power from fossil fuels could cause an increase in coal imports; at a time when around 60% of Pakistan’s GDP is burdened by debt, this will further economic hardship and hinder Pakistan’s ability to invest in hydropower infrastructure or diversification in the energy sector.

In 2022, Pakistan suffered the costliest flood ever recorded: the disaster disrupted lives, upended agricultural infrastructure and rendered water undrinkable. Because the Indus Water Treaty suspension has resulted in India withholding information on Indus Basin water levels, Pakistan may experience a greater risk of sudden, disastrous floods.

As it stands, only about 39% of people living in Pakistan have access to clean water, and estimates place up to 90% of available water being subpar quality. If water from the Indus Basin is cut off, Pakistani people are at risk of further losing access to the drinking water needed to sustain lives and communities.

NGOs Support Communities in Need

As Pakistan’s water crisis has endured, NGOs have played a pivotal role in offsetting harm. Humanitarian groups help install handpumps, solar-powered filtration systems and water-extracting boreholes to help ensure people in Pakistan have access to clean water.

Ek Plate Biryani installed more than 600 hand pumps across Thar – a district in Sindh, Pakistan –  by the end of 2024. Each pump provides about 50 to 100 Pakistani people with safe drinking water daily.

Human Appeal uses donations to help build water wells in Pakistan with its multinational Water and Sanitation projects. Water wells are critical to combating water scarcity, as they can provide whole communities with water for drinking, cooking, bathing and agriculture.

In November 2023, WaterAid Pakistan announced its Country Programme Strategy for 2023-2028 that aims to expedite WASH progress in the country, emphasizing solutions that bolster public health outcomes and consider climate change challenges.

Looking Ahead

Following sustained tensions between Pakistan and India that instigated the Indus Water Treaty suspension, Pakistan’s water crisis is becoming increasingly dire. Though it could take years for India to build the infrastructure needed to cut off Pakistan from the Indus Basin, imperative next steps to support those affected by Pakistan’s water crisis include community mobilization, practical legislation, dam building, water conservation and diplomatic negotiations between Pakistan and India.

– Erin Hellhake

Erin is based in Old Bridge, NJ, USA and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr