The suspension is among several steps India has taken against Pakistan, accusing it of backing cross-border terrorism - a charge Islamabad flatly denies. It has also hit back with reciprocal measures against Delhi, and said stopping water flow "will be considered as an Act of War".

The Pakistani government said that if India followed through on a threat to block rivers it would take it as “an act of war.”

An attack on tourists in India's Himalayan territory of Kashmir this week sparked a new crisis between nuclear armed South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan, with New Delhi blaming militants with "cross-border linkages" for the killings.