Claim
After suspending the treaty, India now first meets its own water needs and releases only the leftover water to Pakistan, unlike before when it released water as per the treaty.
“बदला यह है कि पहले भारत अपनी जरूरत को पूरा कर देता है। फिर जो बचा कुचा पानी होता है वह छोड़ देता है। पहले ऐसा नहीं करता था।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The claim contains a kernel of truth — India placed the treaty in abeyance in April 2025, stopped sharing hydrological data, flushed reservoirs, and briefly restricted flows at Baglihar and Kishanganga, with ministers vowing to maximize use of India's share. But the sweeping assertion that India now 'first meets its own needs and releases only the leftover water' misrepresents reality as of July 2026: India's dams on the western rivers are run-of-river with minimal storage (~3.6 MAF against ~135 MAF annual flow), so experts and the Court of Arbitration record that India lacks the physical capacity to withhold water at that scale, and the overwhelming majority of western-river water continues to flow to Pakistan irrespective of India's needs. The statement presents aspirational government rhetoric as an accomplished operational change.
Evidence
- https://www.csis.org/analysis/can-india-cut-pakistans-indus-river-lifeline CSIS analysis: India does not possess the infrastructure necessary to prevent the Indus's flows from reaching Pakistan; the IWT-era run-of-river design allows India only ~3.6 MAF storage on the western rivers, so it cannot 'use first and release the leftover' at scale. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/papers/the-indus-waters-treaty-a-year-after-the-pahalgam-terror-attack/ One year after the April 2025 abeyance, actual changes are limited: India stopped data sharing, conducted reservoir flushing, and briefly restricted flows at Baglihar/Kishanganga; the western rivers' water largely continues to flow to Pakistan. ✗ unreachable · HTTP 200
- https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/04/india-and-pakistan-still-cannot-agree-restore-indus-waters-treaty-re-engagement-could-help Confirms India suspended participation in the treaty after the Pahalgam attack and restricted water flow only 'for short periods' through the Baglihar and Kishanganga dams — not a continuous use-first-release-leftover regime. ✗ unreachable · HTTP 403
- https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/india-pakistan-water-dispute-unpacking-health-consequences Notes India does not currently have the infrastructure to withhold or redirect substantial water from Pakistan despite the abeyance declaration. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.dawn.com/news/2011838 Pakistan's Indus commissioner complained of Chenab flow fluctuations and stopped communications, showing India has altered operations at the margins, which lends the claim a kernel of truth. ✓ reachable · archived