If India were to use the Indus waters as a tool against Pakistan, it would have a devastating effect not only on the western neighbour, millions of whose people are dependent on it for their daily survival, such a move will have a seismic effect on the region. Most importantly, it will create a precedent that can easily be used by China, from where most rivers in South Asia originate. In addition, countries like Nepal, which is an upper riparian country in relation to India, can be convinced by New Delhi’s detractors to use the water of its rivers against India. An Indian action on the Indus might also make neighbours like Bhutan and Bangladesh nervous. As it is, Bangladesh and India have a running dispute over the former’s demand for the waters of the Teesta, a river that flows through Sikkim and north Bengal and then through Bangladesh.