India, Aug. 2 -- India's Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, has strongly defended New Delhi's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance, arguing that Pakistan had effectively "destroyed" the spirit of the agreement long before India took the step.

Writing in a recent opinion piece published in the US-based weekly magazine Newsweek, Kwatra said the treaty was founded on "goodwill and friendship", but Pakistan spent decades eroding those principles through its actions.

"Pakistan spent half a century dismantling that goodwill and friendship. The abeyance merely acknowledges what Pakistan's conduct had already destroyed," the ambassador said.

Kwatra's remarks came weeks after Pakistan reportedly organised a co...