Attempts to deprive Pakistan of its rightful share of water would have “serious implications” for regional peace and security, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday. The deputy premier was addressing the International Water Symposium convened by the Embassy of Pakistan in Austria in collaboration with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, according to the Foreign Office (FO). In his keynote address delivered via video message, Dar stressed that there should be “no misunderstanding” about Pakistan’s resolve to safeguard its rights and interests under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and international law. “Any attempt to deprive Pakistan of the waters rightfully allocated to it would have serious implications for regional peace and stability,” he said. Stressing that water was fundamental to human survival, prosperity and environmental sustainability, Dar pointed out that its availability was increasingly determining the stability of relations among states. He added that for countries sharing transboundary river systems, a “permanent interdependence” was created by their geography. “The fundamental question, therefore, is whether shared waters will be governed through cooperation and agreed legal frameworks, or become instruments of political pressure and confrontation,” he said. For Pakistan in particular, the deputy premier added, water security was inseparable from food security, as the waters of the Indus River System sustained the lives and livelihoods of over 250 million people in the country. He highlighted that this water sustained agriculture, food security, energy production, economic development, and life-supporting ecological systems. “Any attempt to undermine Pakistan’s rights over these waters carries consequences that extend far beyond a bilateral disagreement,” DPM Dar stressed. More to follow