ISLAMABAD: Despite three reminders sent by Pakistan to India, the Indian water experts’ delegation has yet not visited Pakistan to discuss ways and means to resolve issues regarding the Indus Basin Agreement.
India and Pakistan, the two nuclear-armed neighbours, are locked with water issues since past few decades. India over the decades has been cutting water from rivers flowing into Pakistan by building dams and diverting rivers through tunnels and dams. This conflict, the experts believe, can trigger a nuclear clash between the two neighbours.
India, being the upper riparian, has been stealing water of its lower riparian neighbours, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries.
An informed source has told Pakistan Today that under the Indus Basin Agreement, the Indian water experts have not visited Pakistan even after the lapse of three months.
According to the source, India’s stubbornness on water disputes continues and delaying tactics are being employed. The source said that Indian water experts did not visit Pakistan despite three reminders have been sent in the past three months.
The source said that under the Indus Water Treaty, the Indian delegation was to visit Pakistan and Pakistan had to send site inspections of projects to the Indian Indus Water Commissioner.
“It seems India wants Pakistan to suffer with water woes. India doesn’t want to resolve issues,” the source added.
Asked to explain, the source said that under the Indus Water Treaty, the Indian delegation has to pay a mandatory visit as it was decided in the meeting to be held in India that the Indian delegation will also pay a visit Pakistan in the month of April.
The source said that under the Indus Water Treaty, the year starts from April 1. “After April 1, the Indian delegation had to visit Pakistan and it was mandatory. But despite three reminders, no one turned up yet,” the source added.
According to Sunil Amrith, a professor (of Indian origin) at South Asian studies, Harvard University, Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. One recent estimate suggests that Pakistan will face a shortage of 31 million acre-feet of water by 2025 as Pakistan uses about 104 million acre feet every year for agricultural irrigation.
Hence, experts believe that Pakistan’s complaints against India are genuine as India plans to construct around 400 dams in next decade.
Sunil Amrith says Pakistan’s underground aquifers are critically depleted from the over-extraction of groundwater, and the two largest dams—the Tarbela and the Mangla—have seen a decline in their storage capacity due to excessive deposits of silt. As such, any diminution in water flow will have serious consequences for the livelihoods of Pakistan’s farmers, who have already faced, over the past few years, a dearth of fresh water during the critical season—just before the monsoon, when the summer crop is planted.
It may be recalled that in March this year, a delegation of Pakistan Indus Water Commission had participated in the two-day talks in New Delhi. The eight-member delegation was led by Indus Water Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah while the Indian delegation was led by Indus Water Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Saxena.
Upon return from India, Indus Water Commissioner Mehra Ali Shah had told media that the Indian side listened to Pakistani position with full attention and assured a visit to Pakistan. However, India has failed to comply with its pledge yet.
If you behave well then you will be granted a visit. Else you will not be invited. And the water – all that water belongs to India. It is what it is. And we are doing what we are doing. You complain as much as you want but…that will not change the situation.