'Nehru’s Himalayan blunder': JP Nadda says former PM's IWT decision compromised national interest

BJP chief JP Nadda

BJP chief JP Nadda on Monday said the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, was one of the biggest blunders of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

In a series of posts on X, Nadda said the nation must know that when former Pandit Nehru signed the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, he “unilaterally handed over 80 per cent of Indus basin waters to Pakistan, leaving India with just 20 per cent of the share”.

According to Nadda, it was a decision that permanently compromised India’s water security and national interest.

The Indus Water Treaty, 1960, was one of the biggest blunders of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru that kept national interest at the altar of personal ambitions.

The nation must know that when former Pandit Nehru signed the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, he unilaterally handed…

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) August 18, 2025

“The most appalling aspect was that he did it without consulting the Indian Parliament. The treaty was signed in September 1960. However, it was placed before Parliament only two months later, in November, and that too, for a token discussion of mere 2 hours,” said the BJP chief.

Nadda said “history must call it what it was: Nehru’s Himalayan Blunder”. “A Prime Minister who disregarded Parliament, gambled away India’s lifelines, and tied India’s hands for generations. Even today, India would have continued to pay the price for one man’s misplaced idealism, if not for Prime Minister Modi’s bold leadership and his commitment to Nation First,” said Nadda.

The BJP president said by putting the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, PM Modi has corrected “yet another grave historical wrong committed by Congress”.

The IWT, which has survived four wars, decades of cross-border terrorism against India by Pakistan,  was suspended for the first time by New Delhi after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 lives.

Nadda's remarks came after Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir recently told members of the Pakistani diaspora in the US  that any reduction in water flow would be met with destruction of Indian infrastructure. He also issued a nuclear warning. “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us," said Munir.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also warned that any attempt to block water flow into Pakistan would be a violation of the IWT and met with a “decisive response".

“The enemy cannot snatch even a single drop of water from Pakistan. You threatened to stop our water—if you try, Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget," Sharif said while speaking at an event in Islamabad.