The World Bank (WB) has not been informed about India’s decision to unilaterally suspend the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) signed with Pakistan, several sources have confirmed to The Hindu, an influential Indian media outlet.
A look at the history of this international agreement shows that the World Bank has played an important role as a mediator in the water-sharing dispute between India and Pakistan.
Gunmen killed 26 tourists in a popular tourist destination in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday afternoon, a move India has accused of Pakistan’s involvement in.
In this context, on Thursday, Indian Water Resources Secretary Debashree Mukherjee wrote a letter to Pakistan’s Water Resources Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza, stating that India is suspending the agreement and that it will be “effective immediately.”
After the Pahalgam attack, India announced that it would “suspend” the agreement, which has been in force since 1960. Apparently, this indicates that India will stop sharing information with Pakistan on the water of the Indus rivers (Chenab, Jhelum and the main Indus – known as the “Western River”) or informing it about the infrastructure work of hydroelectric projects. It will also not give Pakistan the water it is supposed to receive.
The letter reads, “It is a fundamental obligation to abide by an agreement with utmost confidence. But instead, we see continuous cross-border terrorism being carried out from Pakistan into the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
An Indian government source told The Hindu, “India’s position on the agreement has been conveyed to Pakistan. Therefore, there is “no need” to inform the World Bank about it.”
A World Bank spokesperson said they did not comment on the sovereign decisions of member countries regarding the agreement.Read more
Following the attack in Pahalgam, India announced on Wednesday that it would “suspend” the agreement, which has been in force since 1960. Apparently, this indicates that India will stop sharing information with Pakistan regarding the water of the Indus rivers (Chenab, Jhelum and the main Indus – known as the “Western River”) or informing it about the infrastructure work of hydroelectric projects.
A scientist associated with the Central Water Commission said that if India wants to use Indus River water as a weapon, it will have to completely ignore the IWT Treaty. That is not possible under the current terms of the treaty.
In addition, suspending the agreement means that India will not give Pakistan the water it is supposed to receive according to the agreement.
Before the Pahalgam incident, the Permanent Indus Commission had not convened a meeting since 2022. The expert team of India and Pakistan under the commission tries to resolve any dispute over the sharing of water in the Indus Basin.Read more
Under the terms of the agreement, India will not be able to build significant reservoirs on the western rivers Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab and must maintain the water at a specified level so as not to cause flooding downstream or damage to Pakistani agriculture.
Although Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of changing the infrastructure of hydroelectric projects to control the flow of water on shared rivers, India has said that this is done to keep the projects operational.
A scientist associated with the Central Water Commission said, “If India wants to use Indus River water as a weapon, it will have to completely ignore the IWT Treaty. That is not possible under the current terms of the treaty.”
After the Pahalgam attack, several sources told The Hindu that India is now considering some options under the agreement that it had never considered before.
Source: Prothom Alo
