India will speed up building of new hydropower plants on three rivers that flow into Pakistan, a source familiar with the plan said on Monday. The move is likely to aggravate the already tense relations with its neighbour a week after the Uri attack.
Disagreements over how to share the waters of the Indus and other rivers have dogged relations between the two countries since 1947.
The dispute looks set to be reignited after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told officials on Monday that India should use more of the rivers’ resources, speaking a week after the 18 September attack on the army base in Uri that left 19 jawans dead , a source with knowledge of the meeting attended by Modi said.
The Modi government has vowed to respond to the terror strike, but any military option risks escalation. Some officials have called for a renewed diplomatic offensive instead.
PM Modi said in Kozhikode on Saturday that India would mount a global campaign to isolate Pakistan, including through the United Nations, where Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke on Monday.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Modi’s hydropower plans.
At Monday’s meeting, Modi and officials discussed ways to increase exploitation of the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers but said they would not violate the long-standing Indus Waters Treaty in the process.
“We want to see that all these (hydropower) projects are put on a really fast-track basis,” the source told Reuters, speaking on the condition he was not named because of the sensitivity of the meeting.
Our entire approach was to create an atmosphere of goodwill. But in this atmosphere, we want to exploit all our rights under the (Indus Waters) Treaty.A source to Reuters
The Indus Water Treaty was signed in 1960 in a bid to resolve disputes, but Pakistan has opposed India’s irrigation plans and construction of thousands of dams. Pakistan depends on the snow-fed Himalayan rivers for everything from drinking water to agriculture.
India asserts that the use of upstream water is in line with the 1960 agreement.
The potential for a military conflict between India and Pakistan over water has long worried observers. The neighbours have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
India currently generates about 3,000 megawatts of energy from hydropower plants along rivers in Kashmir, but the government believes the region has the potential to produce 18,000 megawatts, the source said.
New Delhi will also review whether to restart construction of the Tulbul navigation project, which was suspended several years ago. The project proposes diverting water from one of the shared rivers to a city in Kashmir that could impact flows downstream, the source said.
A spokesman for Modi’s office declined to comment.
(Published in arrangement with Reuters.)
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