Can we imagine life without water? The answer is no; water is the essence of life, Although water covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, only 2.57% is usable for human needs, and most of it is locked in glaciers and ice caps, this scarcity makes water a precious resource. Experts in international affairs have already predicted that future wars will be fought on this vital resource as we have already seen the capture of the Mosul dam in Iraq by ISIS in 2014, using water as a weapon of power. South Asia is a region rich in natural resources, which has always acted as a magnet for invaders starting from the Aryans to the Britishers because of its flowing rivers and fertile lands. Water has also remained a core issue between India and Pakistan, in 1948, both India and Pakistan fought their first war primarily on the Kashmir dispute but water was also the main factor behind it, because its rivers originate from India’s illegally occupied Kashmir, and water is the lifeline of Pakistan’s agriculture-based economy. By realising the core element of contention, both nations brought stability through the Indus water treaty mediated by the World Bank in 1960 during Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Pakistan. Although both nations fought several wars such as in 1965, 1971, the Kargil conflict in 1999, and military standoffs in 2001 and 2002, the treaty is still regarded as the most successful international treaty on water agreements. However this treaty still contains several flaws, according to water experts this treaty favours India disproportionality, for instance, India had 100% control over its eastern rivers- Ravi, Beas, and Satlaj which is unprecedented in similar water accords, Moreover, IWT allows upper riparian(India) to build hydroelectric projects on western rivers,20 per cent more water rights on western rivers, which are allocated to lower riparian (Pakistan)side. Furthermore allowing upper riparians to disperse certain levels of pollution into lower riparians (Pakistan) further complicates the situation for Pakistan. Pakistan’s dependency on an agricultural-based economy demands preemptive and strategic diplomacy, which is essential. Over the previous years, Indian leaders have often raised slogans regarding the abrogation of IWT, initially for terminating then shifting rhetoric to renewing this treaty and now following the Pahalgam terrorist attack they have held this treaty on Abeyance, which is a clear violation of this treaty because according to it no state can unilaterally abandon this, In legal and technical domain, Indian stance is weak because technically to stop the water path completely is very difficult its because rivers have its natural path and blocking or diverging, stops the natural pathway of water, because whole ecology, culture, environment, and economics of that region revolves around that, in this domain, India has two possible options. The first one is to build dams across that river path for water storage which they have to release once the reservoir reaches its limits and the second option is to construct small canals to diverge this water but ultimately both possible options are time-consuming and complex and experts claim, which could take five to seven years minimum to build that type of infrastructure. However, these malafide political tactics show water as India’s possible pressurizing tool in the future as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches claims that Pakistan has been using the water of our people for the previous 75 years but the fact is that India was unable to use its share under the treaty, in legal domain India cannot abrogate the treaty unilaterally and if they do so it would be the clear violation of international law which further can destabilize the regional peace and security and under these circumstances charter seven of the UN charter empowers Security council to take actions against peace and acts of aggression, since both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed countries and any escalation between them poses not only serious security threat to south Asian region but also to global peace and security. India’s continuously changing narrative on IWT, from abrogation to negotiations on it and now holding it in abeyance, clearly depicts India’s future tactics on the water issue. However, Pakistan’s dependency on an agricultural-based economy demands preemptive and strategic diplomacy, which is essential. Pakistan must maintain internal peace and unity and put all its efforts into international forums to defend its water rights proactively. The writer is a student of strategic studies.