New Delhi, April 25 -- In response to the heinous terror attack on tourists at Pahalgam in Kashmir, New Delhi has held in abeyance the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that laid down how India and Pakistan would share the water flows of the Indus river system. Pakistan got access to Indus, Jhelum and Chenab waters, while India got Ravi, Beas and Sutlej flows.

A deal being suspended that survived three wars with Pakistan is significant for the leverage it could grant New Delhi over Islamabad. Pakistani farming would be vulnerable to Indian water-release decisions if storage dams are built on the rivers Pakistan relies on; the treaty allowed only dams that let the water flow freely. Damming might take years, but could pack a powerful message for P...