“On August 24, 2025, India communicated flood warnings through diplomatic channels, rather than through the Indus Waters Commission as required under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)," Foreign Office Spokesperson Shahfqat Ali Khan said on 25 August 2025.
“The High Commission of India to Pakistan presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Islamabad and has the honor to convey the following flood data. River and site Name: Tawi, Jammu. Date/Time: 24th August 2025, 10.00 Hrs, flood data: high flood,” said the letter, seen by The Express Tribune.
While India may have extended the good will gesture, Pakistan regarded the gesture as an obligation which India is expected to comply in accordance with provisions of the IWT.
New Delhi alerted Islamabad about the flood situation in the Tawi River. The information was forwarded via the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, as the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) channel remains in abeyance post the Pahalgam terror attack (22 April 2025).
Since 1960, World Bank-brokered IWT has governed the utilization of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan.
The Tawi river originates from the Kailash Kund glacier (also known as Kali Kund) in Bhaderwah in Doda district, J&K. It flows into the Sialkot district of Pakistan’s Punjab and joins the Chenab River.
The Pakistani government have issued warnings based on the information provided by India.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has declared possibility of heavy rains across Pakistan until August 30.
The NDMA warning has followed post heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan from June 26 to August 20, which claimed 788 lives and left 1,018 injured. The majority of casualties were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, with other provinces also severely hit in Pakistan.
