Pakistani Senator Syed Ali Zafar, rattled by India's suspension of Indus Waters Treaty, says 'we would die if...'

Political leaders in Pakistan have been perturbed over India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) amid bilateral tensions that blew up into a military conflict earlier this month. In a strongly-worded statement, Pakistani Member of Senate Syed Ali Zafar called the suspension a "water bomb hanging over us" that he said must be "defused." Zafar, a senior leader from the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, warned the IWT suspension could lead to widespread starvation in the country.

'Our lifeline'
"We would die of hunger if we don't resolve the water crisis now. The Indus Basin is our lifeline as three-fourths of our water comes from outside the country, nine out of ten people depend on the Indus water basin for their living, as much as 90 per cent of our crops rely on this water and all our power projects and dams are built on it," Zafar said in the Pakistani Senate.
Pakistan, which is a largely agriculture-based economy, depends on the Indus River System for about 80% of its irrigated land. 

Decades-old treaty
Signed in 1960, the IWT outlines how water from six key rivers -- Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej -- are divided between India and Pakistan.
India suspended the IWT as part of a flurry of diplomatic measures following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack of April 22, in which terrorists associated with Pakistani outfits were involved. In early May, India launched coordinated strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, after which Pakistan launched counterstrikes. A ceasefire was announced after four days of conflict.