Blood & Water Can’t Flow Together: PM Modi on Indus Waters Treaty

There have been calls in India to abrogate the Treaty in the wake of the Uri attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: PTI)

“Blood and water can’t flow at the same time,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday during a meeting to review the Indus Water treaty with Pakistan amidst heightened tension between the two countries.

National security advisor Ajit Doval, foreign secretary S Jaishankar, the water resources secretary, and senior PMO officials were present at the meeting.

The review was undertaken as India weighs options to give a befitting response to Pakistan in the wake of the Uri attack that left 18 soldiers dead. There have been consistent calls in India to scrap the water distribution pact to mount pressure on Pakistan in the aftermath of the terror attack.

Here are the key highlights from the meeting, as quoted by ANI sources:

• India to expedite construction on 3 dams on Chenab river — Pakul Dul dam, Sawalkot dam and Bursar dam
  
• ‘India to use fullest legal rights in the treaty’
  
• Construction on Tulbul navigation project to be reviewed by India again, work was suspended on this in 2007
  
• India to use potential of 18,000 megawatt of power from the western rivers under Indus water treaty
  
• Inter-ministerial task force for Indian rights, to be formed for western rivers under Indus water treaty

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing the meeting on Indus Water Treaty in New Delhi on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

PIL Challenging the Treaty Filed

A Delhi-based lawyer filed a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of the Indus Waters Treaty on Monday.

Filed by ML Sharma, the Supreme Court has refused to grant an urgent hearing of it. “There is no urgency in the matter. It will come up for hearing in due course,” a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar said.

Also Read: Did MEA Hint at Rethinking Indus Waters Treaty With Pakistan?

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 19 September, 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.

Why Was the Agreement Signed?

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 for building projects along the way.

Pakistan feared that India could potentially create droughts in case of a war between the two countries. A Permanent Indus Commission set up in this connection has gone through three wars between the two countries without disruption and provides a bilateral mechanism for consultation and conflict-resolution through inspections, exchange of data and visits.

Source: The Indian Express