After the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, the Modi-Government has accelerated efforts to breach the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) by constructing dams on water flowing into Pakistan.
Diverting Indus Water Would Be Act Of Aggression – Pakistan Warns India
According to reports in Pakistan Media which EurAsian Times accessed – Indian diplomats have started lobbying with like-minded UN members. New Delhi is disseminating a draft plan asserting that it needs to act on several options including construction of new dams in Jammu and Kashmir to counter environmental impacts of climate change including fog in its neighbouring countries.
The report in news.com.pk quoting several sources states that – India is very cleverly promoting its narrative by hinting that since Jammu and Kashmir is now a Union territory, it has every right to use its water rivers flowing into Pakistan.
Indian lobbyists in Washington have also engaged a number of democratic and republican congressmen to prevent any possible negative reaction once the draft is made public. The strategy is two-prong: first, to build dams storing water and cutting supply of water flow to Pakistan and, second, to open the gates when water levels in proposed dams from glassier are about to burst flooding Pakistan causing havoc and destruction all around, according to the sources.
“In the aftermath of abrogating the Article 370 of J&K, it will be debated that since it is India’s internal issue to utilise water flowing from Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi is under no obligation to respect IWT.”
Indian diplomats are quietly lobbying other UN members through an informal draft not yet made public by Delhi.
The reports states – this is going to have serious consequences for Pakistan since India has moved from conventional warfare to 5th generation hybrid warfare. This move could potentially strangulate around 200 million people in Pakistan.
Indus Water Treaty
The Indus Water Treaty is a World Bank-brokered settlement signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960, between Pakistan and India to use the water available in the six rivers of the Indus system.
As per this agreement, India was given control over the water flowing in three eastern rivers – the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej with the mean flow of 33 million acre-feet (MAF), while Pakistan was given control over the water flowing in three western rivers – the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum with the mean flow of 80 MAF.
Dispute Over Indus Water Treaty?
Even though India and Pakistan have been sharing the waters without major dispute, experts talking to EurAsian Times state that the agreement is not fairly negotiated as India is only allowed to use only 20% of the six-river Indus water system.
Pakistan recently sought an international arbitration if India sought to build hydropower projects on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. Though the agreement has been seen as one of the most successful water-sharing pacts, the current tension between the two South Asian neighbours might well lead to a flashpoint. Experts say that future wars could well be fought over water.
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Can India Revoke The Indus Water Treaty?
The Indus Water Treaty has survived three wars between the two countries. Although India has often raised the issue, saying that for a treaty to work there had to be “mutual cooperation and trust” between the two sides, this seems to be more pressure tactics than any real threat to review the bilateral agreement.
As EurAsian Times analyzed earlier, the idea that India can frighten Pakistan by threatening to cut off river waters or release excess water during monsoon season is nothing new. A unilateral abrogation of the treaty could attract global criticism and New Delhi would only use the rivers as pressure tactics and threaten Pakistan.
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However, after the revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, experts talking to EurAsian Times have stated ‘Modi Hain Toh Mumkin Hain’ (Everything is possible under PM Modi.
