India’s Dangerous Descent

Publishing date: 08 November 2025

Published in: The Nation

Pakistan’s firm denunciation of India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is not only justified but necessary. By undermining one of the region’s most critical and long-standing agreements, India is once again revealing the reckless direction its leadership has chosen, one where coercion replaces cooperation, and extremism trumps diplomacy.

For years, New Delhi has attempted to paint Pakistan as the perpetual villain of South Asia. Yet, with each move, it is India’s own actions that have stripped away the veneer of moral superiority. The Modi government’s increasingly radical posture, both domestically and abroad, has made clear that it is not the defender of peace it pretends to be, but rather the architect of instability cloaked in self-righteous rhetoric.

Having failed in its narrative war, India now appears to be borrowing tactics from Tel Aviv’s playbook, weaponising resources vital to life itself. Tampering with the natural systems that sustain millions of people crosses not only political lines but moral ones. Water is not a bargaining chip; it is a shared necessity. To manipulate it for political gain is to expose a moral bankruptcy that should alarm even India’s allies.

Meanwhile, across the world, electorates are beginning to reject divisive, power-hungry politics. The recent rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York reflects a global yearning for leadership rooted in justice and human dignity, values India’s ruling elite would do well to revisit.

It is time for introspection in New Delhi. The path of aggression and deceit has led only to regional distrust and global disapproval. If India truly wishes to be seen as a great power, it must first learn the responsibility that comes with being one.