India's Dulhasti Stage-II Project

In clear violation of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the Indian government recently approved the Dulhasti Stage II hydropower project on the Chenab River, a move that has raised serious concerns in Pakistan. The project, which will be constructed in the Indian-occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir with an estimated cost of 327.745 billion Indian rupees, is expected to generate up to 260 megawatts of electricity. While Indian authorities describe the project as a technically compliant, run-of-the-river scheme aimed at strengthening energy security, Pakistan has responded with strong protests, saying that under the IWT, India cannot misuse its “restricted allowance for unilaterally building any hydroelectric projects on the western rivers.”

In December 2025, the Indian government approved the 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on the Chenab River in Kishtwar district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) – an action that goes beyond the routine disputes that have long surrounded the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 (IWT). The move serves as another piece of evidence that India is blatantly undermining the IWT through water aggression, as the approval of the project is a direct attack on Pakistan's water rights.

It is a 260-megawatt hydropower project proposed on the Chenab River in the Kishtwar District of IIOJK.