Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik warned that any attempt by India to block or control Pakistan’s share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty would face severe retaliation. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Malik said that Pakistan would not tolerate interference with its water rights, responding to recent remarks by India’s Water Resources Minister C.R. Patil, who claimed India was ensuring no water flowed to Pakistan after suspending the 1960 treaty.

The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates six rivers between the two countries—three western rivers to Pakistan and three eastern rivers to India. India suspended the treaty following a deadly attack in Kashmir last year, which brought the two nations close to war. Pakistan argues that India is using water as a political weapon and warns that altering cross-border river flows would be considered an act of war.

Pakistan hosted an international conference on Tuesday to discuss water rights, with experts examining the treaty’s legal basis, regional security, and conflict prevention.