Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, in an interview with the Times of India on Saturday, said that India will never revive the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan and will divert the route of water from Pakistan for its internal use.
The 1960 Indus Water Treaty was individually suspended by India, which governs the usage of the Indus River system, on April 23, shortly after 26 civilians were killed in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Delhi put the blame for the attack on Islamabad without any evidence. All the allegations were denied by Islamabad, and a neutral investigation was suggested.
The agreement remains inactive despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the two nuclear-armed neighbors last month following their worst fighting in decades.
At the month’s beginning, PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the independent suspension of the agreement, calling it a “blatant violation and act of water aggression,” and warned that Pakistan would deliver a strong response in accordance with the decisions made by the National Security Committee on April 24th.
“No, it will never be restored,” Shah told the daily. “We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” Shah said, directing to the northwestern Indian state.
Such comments from the most powerful cabinet member of the Indian PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet, Amit Shah, reveal the true intentions of Delhi on IWT, on which Pakistan hopes to have mutual dialogues in the near term.
In the previous month, Reuters reported that India has significantly increased the water flow from the river that feeds Pakistani farms, claiming it as an act of retaliation.
No response has been made at the time to the request of Reuters by Pakistani foreign affairs. But it has mentioned on multiple occasions that the treaty has no provision for one pulling back individually from the agreement and states that any sort of blockage of waters flowing towards Pakistan would be considered an “act of war.”
Islamabad is also exploring a legal challenge to India’s decision to hold the treaty in suspension under international law.
Indian-held Kashmir CM voices opposition to water diversion plans
Indian-held Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah criticized and resisted the diversion of river water routes towards other Indian states, stating that now Pakistan stands suspended, asking why they should get more water when they already have three rivers while parts of the Union Territory are facing an acute water shortage, India’s Telegraph reported.
“Nobody will take it. At least I will not allow it as of now. First allow us to use our water, and then we will talk about others. There is a drought-like situation in Jammu. There is no water in the taps,” Abdullah told reporters.
Abdullah was reacting to the purported central government move to conduct a feasibility study for constructing a 113 km-long canal to direct the surplus flow from the three western rivers of the Indus water system, the report said.
“Why should I take water to Punjab? There are already three rivers in Punjab (and the other two states) under the Indus Waters Treaty. Did they give us water when we needed it?” he reportedly stated.
Omar referred to Punjab’s supposed refusal to share water during disputes over the Ujh multipurpose project and the Shahpur Kandi barrage in Jammu in the past. “We were in dire straits then, but they kept us waiting for years…. After years, some work was done on the Shahpur Kandi barrage,” he said.