Please Help on Indus Water Treaty
- by Leah Brady
- in Worldwide
- — Oct 2, 2016
Addressing the meeting, the Prime Minister said that the Indus Water Treaty was mutually agreed arrangement between India and Pakistan brokered by the World Bank in 1960 and no one country can unilaterally separate itself from the treaty.
Shah expressed fears that India may build more dams on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers if the treaty is abrogated.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made a decision to suspend Indus Water Commission talks until "Pakistan-sponsored terror" in India ends, according to Indian media reports.
Pakistan's meeting with World Bank took place amid reports that India could revoke the 56-year-old Indus Water Treaty.
However, on Tuesday, India handed over evidence to the Pakistani envoy, saying it has proof of the neighbouring country's involvement in the terrorist attack in Uri that claimed the lives of 18 soldiers on September 18.
This is the first time India has pulled out of the SAARC summit, giving the strongest diplomatic blow to Pakistan amid the peaking tension between the two countries since the Uri attack. Earlier, the India-Pakistan spat barely made a ripple in the U.S., which is in the throes of a Presidential election campaign. "We are willing to provide the Pakistan High Commission consular access to these three individuals apprehended in connection with terrorist attacks in India", the Foreign Secretary told the Pakistani envoy.
India lifts in-flight curbs for new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smart phones
Customers are now wary of using their Galaxy Note 7s as a brand new device was reported to have exploded a few days back. It added that such behavior from Samsung is deemed discriminatory and has caused discontent from Chinese consumers.
On Tuesday, Pakistan had approached The World Bank with senior officials taking up the matter with the global lender which had mediated the water-sharing deal.
It is not easy for India to seek revocation of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 because of the vital role the World Bank has played in the formation of the Treaty.
India blames Pakistan for a deadly assault on an army base in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir this month that has heightened fears of a fresh clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Pakistani delegation consisted, besides the attorney general, of Water and Power secretary Muhammad Younus Dagha; Pakistan's Commissioner for Indus Water Mirza Asif Baig; and Joint Secretary (Water) Ahmad Irfan Aslam and Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani and World Bank's Executive Director for Pakistan Nasir Khosa.
Pakistan sees such a violation as an "act of war", the country's top foreign official said. "Blood and water can't flow together", the PM said at that meeting. This, though, could be catastrophic for farmers, as Pakistan's agricultural economy is nearly totally dependent on water from the Indus Basin rivers. India has said it will respond to the Kashmir attack but experts say it is short of military options because of the risk of escalation.
