India Issues Notice to Pakistan for Modification of Indus Waters Treaty

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 27th Jan. Following Islamabad’s “intransigence” in implementing the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of September 1960, India has issued a notice to Pakistan to modify the treaty, government sources said on Friday.

They said the notice was sent on January 25 through the respective commissioners for Indus waters.

According to the sources, India has always been a staunch supporter and a responsible partner in carrying out the IWT in letter and spirit.

“However, Pakistan’s actions have adversely impinged on the provisions of IWT and their implementation, and forced India to issue an appropriate notice for modification of the pact,” said a source.

After nine years of negotiations, India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960, with the World Bank as a signatory.

The treaty establishes a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries in the use of a number of rivers’ waters.

Pakistan requested in 2015 the appointment of a neutral expert to investigate its technical objections to India’s Kishenganga and Ratle Hydroelectric Projects (HEPs).

According to the sources, Pakistan unilaterally retracted this request in 2016 and proposed that a Court of Arbitration hear its objections.

‘They claimed that Pakistan’s unilateral action violated the graded dispute settlement mechanism envisioned in Article IX of the IWT. As a result, India asked that the case be referred to a neutral expert.

“The initiation of two simultaneous processes on the same questions and the potential of their inconsistent or contradictory outcomes creates an unprecedented and legally untenable situation, which risks endangering the IWT itself,” the source said.

“The World Bank acknowledged this itself in 2016, and took a decision to ‘pause’ the initiation of two parallel processes and request India and Pakistan to seek an amicable way out,” it said.

The sources said that despite repeated efforts by India to find a mutually agreeable way forward, Pakistan refused to discuss the issue during the five meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission from 2017 to 2022 At Pakistan’s continuing insistence, the World Bank has recently initiated actions on both the neutral expert and Court of Arbitration processes, they said.

The sources added that such parallel consideration of the same issues is not covered under any provision of IWT.

“Faced with such violation of IWT provisions, India has been compelled to issue notice of modification,” the source cited above said.