UN Rights Council Adopts Water Resolution as Pakistan Backs Cross-Border Cooperation
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — WEB DESK: The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, retaining an explicit reference to transboundary water cooperation following diplomatic negotiations in Geneva.
The resolution was submitted by Germany and Spain during the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council and was adopted without a vote after two proposed amendments were rejected.
Pakistan played an active role in efforts to retain language addressing cooperation over water resources shared across national borders.
The issue assumed particular significance for Islamabad amid its continuing dispute with India over the Indus Waters Treaty and the management of shared water resources.
Pakistan’s First Secretary Adeel Mumtaz Khokhar addressed the council during consideration of the resolution, setting out Islamabad’s position that countries sharing water resources also carry shared responsibilities.
Pakistan maintained that cooperation over transboundary waters is closely connected with access to safe drinking water and sanitation and argued against attempts to remove such language from the final resolution.
The Pakistani delegation also stressed that upstream states should not use shared water resources as instruments of political pressure or leverage.
The final adoption followed votes on two proposed amendments, identified as L.39 and L.40. Both amendments were rejected by 17 votes to 10, with nine abstentions, before draft resolution A/HRC/63/L.34 was adopted without a vote.
The development comes as water security has become an increasingly prominent issue in Pakistan’s diplomatic engagements, particularly following renewed tensions surrounding the Indus Waters Treaty.
Islamabad has maintained that management of shared rivers should remain governed by international agreements, cooperation and established legal obligations.
The adoption of the resolution does not itself settle bilateral disputes over individual transboundary river systems. However, retaining language on cross-border cooperation gives additional diplomatic significance to the broader principle of cooperation over shared water resources.
