China has accelerated construction work on the Mohmand Dam project in Pakistan in response to India’s recent threat to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty and cut off water supply to Pakistan.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday that the process of concrete filling has officially begun at the Mohmand Dam site -- marking 'a critical construction milestone and a phase of accelerated development for this national flagship project of Pakistan'.
The Mohmand Hydropower Project, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been under construction since September 2019. It is being developed by the state-owned China Energy Engineering Corporation and is regarded as a “national flagship project” by both Pakistan and China.
The dam was originally scheduled for completion in 2026, but recent developments have prompted an urgent acceleration.
India’s water threat triggers urgency
The Chinese announcement comes just weeks after the Indian government said it was suspending the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. The announcement followed a deadly attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir on April 22, which India blamed on Pakistan-based elements — an allegation Islamabad strongly denies.
Also Read: India suspends Indus Waters Treaty, expels Pakistanis, closes Attari post
On April 23, in a major diplomatic escalation, India threatened to suspend the historic Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. The announcement came from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs following a meeting chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Pahalgam incident.
The suspension of the treaty was viewed as one of the most serious retaliatory moves yet. The treaty had survived multiple wars and decades of hostilities, making its suspension a grave signal of worsening relations.
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 under the auspices of the World Bank, governs the sharing of the Indus River system between the two countries. The suspension of the treaty poses a serious threat to Pakistan’s water security, as the country depends on the Indus river and its tributaries for nearly 80% of its agricultural needs.
