Pakistan has sought Canada’s support for the restoration of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) during Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand’s visit to Islamabad. This is the first visit to Pakistan by a Canadian foreign minister in nearly two decades.
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In his statement, Dar said the two sides also discussed regional and international developments, including the situation in Afghanistan and counter-terrorism cooperation. He said Pakistan raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue, describing it as an unresolved dispute that has remained on the UN Security Council’s agenda since 1948.
Dar also criticised India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, saying, “India has added a new dynamic into an already volatile security situation by announcing to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance. We seek the support of our friendly countries towards India’s immediate restoration of the IWT, ending the weaponization of water, and upholding international law and treaty obligations.”
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The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in September 1960 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistan president Mohammad Ayub Khan. The Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, allocated the western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, Chenab – to Pakistan, and the eastern rivers – Ravi, Beas and Sutlej – to India. It allowed each country certain uses on the rivers allocated to the other.
The two countries also reaffirmed their commitment to sustained engagement and agreed to strengthen institutional cooperation through regular bilateral consultations and greater interaction between relevant ministries and stakeholders, Dar said.
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According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs, deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar raised the issue of the Indus Waters Treaty during talks with Anand and urged Canada’s support for its immediate restoration.
India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance as part of a series of punitive diplomatic and economic measures following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). India later launched Operation Sindoor in May 2025, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in retaliation for the attack.
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Economic cooperation was another key focus of the talks. According to Dar, both sides discussed expanding trade and investment ties by promoting business-to-business linkages and deeper engagement in sectors including education, energy, mining and critical minerals, agriculture, infrastructure and information technology. He said Pakistan welcomed Canadian investment in these priority sectors.
In her remarks, Anand highlighted the significance of the visit, noting that it marked the first visit by a Canadian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly 20 years. She said that over this period, bilateral trade had grown, Canada’s commercial interests had expanded, and new opportunities had emerged for cooperation on regional security and economic growth.
