India has signalled the threat to abrogate the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
The issue has come to focus because of the current tension with Pakistan following the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army base at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 18 Indian soldiers.
On 22 September, India raised the issue saying a treaty could not be a “one-sided affair”.
“For any such treaty to work, its important that there must be mutual cooperation and trust between both the sides. It cannot be a one-sided affair,” the MEA spokesperson said cryptically when asked if the government will rethink on the treaty given the growing strain between the two countries. He also noted that the preamble of the treaty itself said it was based on “goodwill”.
What is the Indus Waters Treaty?
The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-sharing arrangement signed by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then President of Pakistan Ayub Khan on September 19, 1960, in Karachi. It covers the water distribution and sharing rights of six rivers — Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. The agreement was brokered by the World Bank.
The agreement was signed because the source of all the rivers of the Indus basin were in India (Indus and Sutlej, though, originate in China). It allowed India to use them for irrigation, transport and power generation, while laying down precise do’s and don’ts for India on building projects along the way.
What does the agreement entail?
The treaty gave the three “eastern rivers” of Beas, Ravi and Sutlej to India for use of water without restriction. The three “western rivers” of Indus, Chenab and Jhelum were allocated to Pakistan.
India can construct storage facilities on “western rivers” of up to 3.6 million acre feet, which it has not done so far. India is also allowed agriculture use of 7 lakh acres above the irrigated cropped area as on April 1, 1960.
Lifeline of Pakistan:
In a single-basin-country like Pakistan, life would be impossible even to contemplate without the Indus and its tributaries and their life giving waters. Soon after its creation in August 1947, Pakistan faced extreme and unpredictable miseries at the hands of India who claimed proprietary rights to the waters of eastern rivers passing through its territorial land and crossing Pakistan.
The construction of two mega dams facilitated control of floods, provided water for irrigation and production of cheap and clean hydelpower.
Pakistan became independent in matters of irrigational needs and the interlinking of rivers by canals provided more rational utilisation of waters in all six rivers.
Additionally, a sum of $50 million provided for drainage channels and tube wells augmented supplies and facilitated the much needed reclamation of water-logged-areas.
Indian Position:
According to the Indian Government, India has been permitted to construct storages of water on western rivers upto 3.6 million acre feet (MAF) for various purposes. No storage has been developed so far.
India has been permitted agricultural use of 7,01,000 acres over and above the irrigated cropped area (ICA) as on April 1, 1960, the date of implementation of the treaty, which makes the total ICA as 9,12,477 acres.
India is under obligation to supply information of its storage and hydroelectric projects as specified.
According to the Government, India also communicates as a gesture of goodwill, flood data to Pakistan from 1st July to 10th October every year, to enable them to undertake advance flood relief measures.
Analysis:
India handed out a veiled threat that it could consider reviewing the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 in the wake of Pakistan using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy.
This would mean that water could be the new weapon used by India in teaching a lesson to Pakistan if the latter did not mend its ways and stop carrying out terror attacks against India.
Speculations indicate that India may move beyond registrations of pro-test with Pakistan and could use water as a leveraging tool with Pakistan, large parts of which may face drought if denied the water of the Indus and other rivers in the region by India.
Indus Water Treaty is duly considered the biggest irrigation project in human history. It suffices to say that India has given a most magnanimous water-sharing pact, hailed as a success model, world over. But it is a bad bargaining chip for India, which has got other tools.