Pakistan, April 24 -- What happens when water becomes a weapon? After a tragic attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam valley left 26 tourists dead on Tuesday, India wasted no time blaming Pakistan-without investigation, without evidence, and most worryingly, without restraint. The government's knee-jerk decision to "hold in abeyance" the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) marks a dangerous escalation: the weaponization of a climate-sensitive, legally binding water-sharing agreement to score political points.

For decades, the IWT stood out as a rare success story in South Asia's otherwise volatile diplomatic landscape. Brokered by the World Bank in 1960, the treaty divided the Indus Basin's rivers between India and Pakistan and explicitly prohibit...