What was once a symbol of cooperation in a fractured subcontinent threatens to become the first victim in a new son of conflict, where water, not only the earth or ideology, becomes the battlefield. | Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan
After signing the Treaty of Indo Aguas (IWT), Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru stood up to Parliament and declared: “We bought an agreement, if you wish; we bought peace in that sense and it is good for both countries.”
That peace, bought at a cost, hero in fragile hands, has supported decades of fire and fury. The IWT resisted the fire of the wars of 1965 and 1971, Kargil’s icy heights, the tremors after the 2001 Parliament’s attack, the horror of 11/26 in Mumbai, and a wave after wave of terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. In spite of everything, India never broke the treaty, the respite of the delicate balance she maintained never lacked. Like the upper riverside, India had the weight of responsibility, silently, firmly.
But with the blood of tourists spilled once again in Jammu and Kashmir, the tide has changed. The movement of India to suspend the IWT brands not only a break in a long-standing commitment, but the opening of a new and dangerous front in the Indo-Pakistan conflict.
Jammu Kashmir and water
The IWT was signed in 1960 with Pakistan, with respect to the use of waters of the Indo Ríos system. The treaty extends to the main rivers of the Indo-ie Sutlej basin, Beas, Ravi (Eastern rivers) and Jhelum, Chenab and Indus (Western Rivers), including its tributaries and subtribos and other bodies of water. All the waters of the eastern rivers were assigned to India for their useless use, while India has the obligation to let all the waters of the western rivers flow, they sell the national uses, not submergery and of another type allowed in the treaty.
The data show that from the total water of the Indo River basin, 80 percent flow to Pakistan through the western rivers, while only 20 percent flow through the eastern rivers. In Pakistan, water has been increasingly political, and leaders link it to the conflict of Kashmir. The prominent figures, including military and political leaders, have framed Cashmiro as a vital element for Pakistan water security, arguing that losing it would threaten the country’s agricultural economy. The statements of leaders such as Syed Salahuddin and Sardar Mohamad Anwar Khan underline the narrative that Kashmir is essential to maintain the water resources of Pakistan, portraying the conflict as a struggle for survival in the face of the possible shortage of water.
End of the treaty?
Amit Ranjan, a researcher at the Institute of Studies in South Asia, said the National University of Singapore Business line That the current position of the Indian government almost indicates a movement towards the end of the IWT, since Pakistan is less likely that he satisfactorily meets the conditions established by India. While India has refrained from using the term “abrogation”, Ranjan said it is a movement towards that direction, and it is likely that the implications are the same unless the government decides otherwise.
“Although India has announced the suspension of the IWT, it currently lacks large infrastructure necessary to divert water and the prevention of flowing to Pakistan. The construction of a large -scale large -scale infrastructure will have considerable time.
He pointed out that the World Bank is part of specific articles and annexes of the IWT. In current circumstances, Pakistan has limited political and legal options. Ranjan stressed that despite the complaints of both countries, the IWT has been considered one of the most successful treaties among adverse countries.
Impact on Pakistan
Naseer Memon, an expert in governance and climate change based in the water, said: “Pakistan is not vulnerable to any seriously immediate resource, since India is not that it is not no, it is not not that it is not no, it is not not being able to not be able to infrastructure in the western rivers of Pakistan.
Memon added: “The unilateral suspension of IWT of India is an act of aggression. Pakistan could be deprived of sharing data or water flows on the Indian side. Pakistan needs to remain attentive to the monzón that is coming when the India reaches that all those who are all seems to their all that everyone can That all those who are enlightened about their entirety, their injected, suilt that everyone seems to what all those who are fully done are enlightened.
Within Pakistan, the struggle for water has already intensified in recent years. The people in Sindh have been protesting the planned construction of six channels in the Indo, fearing that it will be discussed in the serious water shortage of the province. The channels, with a budget of ₹ 211 billion, aim to supply water to the Cholistan region of southern Punjab. However, Sindh, which already faces 40-45 percent of annual water scarcity and background of devastating droughts, could suffer more. As a lower riverside province, it depends largely on the water of the Indo River, and residents warn that the new channels will exacerbate the crisis for their 60 million residents.
As the Indo rivers continue to flow, indomitable, relentless and deeply political, the fragile peace bought in 1960 now staggers the limit. What was once a symbol of cooperation in a fractured subcontinent threatens to become the first victim in a new son of conflict, where water, not only the earth or ideology, becomes the battlefield. The Indo may have carved civilization, but now, it can carve the contours of the confrontation.
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Posted on April 24, 2025