Trial by Water: Indus Basin and India-Pakistan Relations

ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1947, the Indian subcontinent was partitioned, and Pakistan was born. A shared heritage, a composite culture and centuries-old bonds between people, all seemed to vanish overnight. Nowhere was this rupture more profound than in the Indus Basin—once a unified lifeline of the region, now fragmented by sovereign borders, its rivers flowing through two nations immediately at odds with each other.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960, proving that even bitter adversaries could cooperate over shared resources. Yet, it never brought lasting peace. The treaty was suspended by India in April 2025 as a punitive measure in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, and its future remains shrouded in uncertainty. Can it still endure and adapt? Perhaps the time has come for a new arrangement—one that is not just inevitable but essential.

This book traces the turbulent history of the Indus Basin and examines how the Indus Waters Treaty has been shaped by the region’s ever-evolving political dynamics. It explores the role of key leaders on both sides, as well as external pressures, in shaping and reshaping one of the world’s most critical transboundary water agreements.

The Indus Basin has been a witness to conflict, compromise and survival. And if you seek to understand the true nature of India–Pakistan relations, start with the rivers that bind them. Trial by Water leads us in that direction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

UTTAM KUMAR SINHA is one of India’s leading commentators on transboundary water issues. After a brief stint in the print media and a doctoral degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, he joined the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in 2001 (now renamed as Manohar Parrikar-IDSA) where he heads the non-traditional security centre and is the managing editor of Strategic Analysis, the institute’s flagship journal, published by Routledge.

He is a recipient of many fellowships, including senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (2018-20); an academic visitor at the Harvard Kennedy School (2015); Chevening ‘Gurukul’ scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2008); and a visiting fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (2006).

His noted works include Riverine Neighbourhood: Hydro-Politics in South Asia (2016) and Climate Change Narrative: Reading the Arctic (2014).