1960: the year two rivals agreed to share six rivers

In 1960, two countries that had already fought one war sat down in Karachi and signed a treaty about water.² The World Bank had brokered it.² On paper, the deal was simple.

Six rivers run through the Indus basin. India got the three eastern ones: the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej.³ Pakistan got the three western ones: the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab.³ The Indus itself runs about 3,000 kilometres, from Tibet to the Arabian Sea.¹

To hold its share, Pakistan built two great dams: Mangla in 1967 and Tarbela in 1976.⁴ For sixty-five years the treaty outlived wars, standoffs and governments on both sides.²

Then, in April 2025, India announced it was holding the treaty in abeyance.⁵ The water did not stop. But for the first time since 1960, the rule that governed it was in question.

That is how a river became a border. Next time: what happens when the rules go quiet.