China has said it was accelerating work on a “flagship” dam in Pakistan in the wake of India’s recent threats to cut off water supplies.

The state-owned China Energy Engineering Corporation has been working on the Mohmand Hydropower Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan since 2019.

The project was scheduled to be completed next year. On Saturday state broadcaster CCTV reported that concrete filling on the dam had started, marking “a critical construction milestone and a phase of accelerated development for this national flagship project of Pakistan”.

The project officially began in September 2019, and was scheduled to be completed next year.

The Chinese statement followed India’s announcement that it would suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with its neighbour, in response to a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22.

The suspension of the treaty has left Pakistan facing water security risks, as the country reportedly relies on the Indus river system for about 80 per cent of its agriculture.