Water in the Chenab River discharges as multiple gates of the Salal Dam open due to increased water levels triggered by continuous rainfall in Reasi on July 24, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
India will continue to share “high-flood data” with Pakistan on “humanitarian grounds”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday (July 24, 2026).
Speaking at a media briefing, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan media reports alleging India is deliberately creating a flood situation in Pakistan’s Punjab province by increasing water flow of the Chenab river is “baseless”. Officials further said that the non-operational status of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has not impacted water-related cooperation between the two sides and India has shared flood-related data at least 23 times in 2025 itself.
Will share data
“Like last year, India will share high-flood data with Pakistan on humanitarian grounds, through diplomatic channels as and when a situation arises,” said Mr. Jaiswal adding that the Pakistani allegations about India releasing water is “without factual basis”. The Chenab has remained in “high-flood state” in the past week as monsoon rains continued over Jammu and Punjab.
Mr. Jaiswal said that the allegation that “India is deliberately causing flooding is baseless and contrary to the facts”.
“As regards allegations relating to flood warnings, the river flows during this period did not reach extraordinary discharge levels requiring the issuance of special flood warnings. The observed flows were consistent with prevailing monsoon conditions over the upper catchments, as acknowledged by Pakistan’s own flood forecasting authorities,” said the MEA spokesperson.
Officials pointed out that despite the fact that the Indus Waters Treaty was placed in “abeyance” following the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam, India shared flood-related data at least on 23 occasions with Pakistan last year. Similar data will be shared as and when the requirement arises this year as well, said an official source.
The official spokesperson said the increase in river flows is a result of “natural hydrological response” due to heavy monsoon rainfall in the area near Jammu. “Attempts to portray weather-driven flood event as an upstream intervention are factually incorrect, technically untenable and contradicted by Pakistan’s own official flood advisories,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
Published – July 24, 2026 11:37 pm IST
