UN Human Rights Council Adopts Resolution Recognising Cross-Border Water Cooperation

GENEVA, October 6, 2026: The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, with Pakistan securing an important diplomatic development by ensuring an explicit reference to cross-border water cooperation in the final text.

The resolution was presented by Germany and Spain and was adopted by consensus by all 47 members of the Human Rights Council.

Pakistan played an active role in retaining the reference to transboundary water cooperation in the final version of the resolution. According to the Pakistani side, India had attempted to remove the reference during negotiations.

For the first time, the resolution explicitly recognises the direct link between cross-border water cooperation and the realisation of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Speaking at the adoption of the resolution, Pakistan’s First Secretary Adeel Khokhar outlined the country’s position on shared water resources.

“Where water is shared, responsibilities are shared as well,” Khokhar said, stressing that cooperation over shared waters between neighbouring countries should not be viewed as a favour or concession, but as a shared responsibility.

He further said that an upstream country should not use water as a tool of political pressure or influence.

“Water should be managed according to the principles of cooperation and mutual responsibility rather than being used as an instrument of political pressure,” he said.

The resolution marks a significant development in discussions on transboundary water resources by linking cooperation over shared waters with the fulfilment of fundamental human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.