New Delhi: Home minister Amit Shah has said that India will never restore the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Islamabad, and the water flowing to Pakistan will be diverted for internal use. He said this at an interview with The Times of India on Saturday.
If this happens, there will be severe water crisis in Pakistan and agricultural production in that country will be badly affected. Nearly 80% of Pakistan’s agriculture is dependent on that water.
Under the 1960 treaty, India had agreed to share waters of the Indus with Pakistan. While India would use the waters of the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej, the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus would flow into Pakistan.
India has maintained that the IWT was bound by principles of goodwill and friendship between the two neighbours which Pakistan never honoured. The dastardly terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, that resulted in 26 deaths, was the last straw. India suspended the treaty a day later.
“No, it will never be restored,” Shah said in response to a question, adding: “We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably.”
While the full impact of this decision will not be felt by Pakistan just yet, agricultural canals will start drying up there as India creates infrastructure to divert the waters of the Jhelum, Chenab and Indus.
Instead of adopting a reconcilliatory stand, Pakistan has resorted to an aggressive approach with several of its leaders, including former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari threatening a full-scale war unless the treaty is restored.
Indians, meanwhile, have welcomed this stand. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has said that abrogation of the treaty will mean more water for his state. He has refused to share the waters with Punjab though.
While Pakistan is seeking international intervention, India has made it clear that the the IWT will not be a part of any bilateral dialogue between the two countries. Only two topics will be discussed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. They are terrorism and the return of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
