The notice highlighted fundamental changes in circumstances that require review of treaty.
India had also sent a notice to Pakistan in January, 2023 seeking amendment to 1960 treaty.The notice was issued due to Pakistan’s failure to cooperate in the implementation of the treaty.
What is Indus Water Treaty?
According to the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, “all the water of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi amounting to around 33 million acre feet (MAF) annually — is allocated to India for unrestricted use.” On the other hand, the majority of the water from the western rivers, namely the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, which amounts to approximately 135 MAF annually, has been allocated to Pakistan.
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The treaty grants India the right to generate hydroelectricity through run-of-the-river projects on the western rivers, subject to specific design and operation criteria. Pakistan has the right to raise objections to the design of Indian hydroelectric projects on these rivers. Under the treaty, Pakistan received roughly 80 per cent of the water in the Indus drainage system, while India was allocated about 3.3 crore out of the total 16.8 crore acre-feet of water in the Indus system. Currently, India utilises slightly more than 90 per cent of its allocated share of the Indus waters.
India has the right to utilise water resources from the Indus River system in several states, including Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. These states also receive water from the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganga. Pakistan, on the other hand, heavily relies on the Indus system, particularly in its Punjab province, which is crucial for feeding the rest of the country. Whenever India attempts to use its allocated water quota or construct a dam as permitted under the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan raises objections, leading to increased tensions between the two nations.
One such example is the Tulbul Navigation Project, which the Indian government decided to expedite following the Uri terror attack. The project, referred to as the Wullar Barrage project by Pakistan, is a long-standing plan that was suspended in 1987 due to objections from Pakistan. According to sources, despite India’s repeated efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution, Pakistan refused to discuss the issue during the five meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission held between 2017 and 2022. Recently, at Pakistan’s persistent insistence, the World Bank has initiated actions on both the neutral expert and Court of Arbitration processes.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty, India has the right to develop 13.4 lakh acres of irrigation in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. However, currently, only 6.42 lakh acres of land are irrigated in these Union Territories. Furthermore, the treaty allows India to store 3.60 million acre-feet of water from the western rivers, namely the Jhelum, Indus, and Chenab. To date, there is virtually no storage capacity developed in Jammu and Kashmir. The treaty also permits India to construct run-of-river dams on the Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus without blocking the flow of water. This provision gives India the advantage of temporarily restricting the flow of waters in the rivers allocated to Pakistan under the treaty.
