Afghanistan Mirrors India’s Water Strategy, Plans Dams to Curb Flow Into Pakistan
In a move echoing India’s recent assertion over shared rivers, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has ordered an accelerated effort to build dams on the Kunar River, potentially tightening Pakistan’s already strained access to fresh water, according to NDTV news report.
Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly directed construction to begin “as soon as possible,” the country’s acting Water Minister, Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, announced on X. Mansoor insisted that “Afghans have the right to manage their own water,” adding that domestic firms would spearhead the projects without foreign contractors.
The decision comes amid rising border tensions along the volatile Durand Line, where Islamabad has accused Kabul of sheltering the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for deadly attacks inside Pakistan.
The Kunar River originates in Pakistan’s Chitral district before flowing into Afghanistan, where it merges with the Pech and Kabul rivers and reenters Pakistan near Attock. It is a lifeline for irrigation, drinking water, and hydropower across the country’s northwest especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a region battered by both drought and militancy.
If Afghanistan dams the river before it re-crosses the border, experts warn, the impact on Pakistan’s farms and cities could be severe. Unlike the Indus Waters Treaty that governs water sharing between India and Pakistan, no such agreement exists between Islamabad and Kabul, leaving Pakistan with no formal recourse.
The move follows India’s suspension of the 65 year old Indus Waters Treaty after an April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, signaling a regional shift toward weaponizing water amid geopolitical rivalry.
The Taliban’s broader water push also includes the vast Qosh Tepa Canal project in northern Afghanistan, which could divert nearly a fifth of the Amu Darya River and reshape Central Asia’s agricultural map.
