While raising Indus, India must not forget China

[somebozo]

NEW DELHI: Calls for the abrogation of the 50-year-old Indus Water Treaty (IWT) may be a naive and irrational reaction given that the treaty has many stakeholders besides India and Pakistan and any unilateral tinkering could have implications to water sharing arrangement with China, Nepal and Bangladesh too.

Delhi has proposed a similar water sharing pact with China where the northern neighbour is the upper riparian state with and India the lower riparian state.
The biggest impediment for scrapping IWT is that India -- a lower riparian state wants to conclude water sharing pact with China - therefore cannot be viewed as acting in a unilateral fashion against lower riparian state Pakistan, indicated sources familiar with the matter.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) publicly stated that IWT cannot be "one-sided affair" in the aftermath of the Uri attack. Policy makers in South Block are not enthusiastic about scrapping the treaty that has stood the test of time including wars of 1965, 1971 and the 1999 Kargil standoff besides the Kashmir insurgency since 1990.

China maintains an advantageous position as the upstream riparian of the Brahmaputra. It can, theoretically, choose to withhold hydrological information and can build infrastructure to intentionally prevent water from flowing downstream. Fear has been created in India because of previous tendencies where the Chinese have been unwilling to provide details of its hydro-projects, and when it did, gave contradictory information.

Beijing and New Delhi signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 'Strengthening Cooperation on Trans-Border Rivers' in 2013, recognising that trans-boundary rivers are an important asset to the development of all riparian regions. Both countries agreed to strengthen communication and strategic trust. China agreed to provide more hydrological information to India at the start of the flood season. In 2015 India and China also renewed MoU for five years of hydrological information of Sutlej or Langqen Zangbo.

As lower riparian countries India and Bangladesh rely on the Brahmaputra for water, agriculture and livelihoods. Upstream, China holds an important strategic advantage over the river's flow. Chinese dam-building and water division plans along the Yarlung Zangbo (as the Brahmaputra in called in China) is a source of tension between the two neighbours, sources pointed out.

India is a lower-riparian state with regard to rivers flowing from Nepal (an upper riparian state) and has successful water sharing arrangement with Bangladesh (both share more than 50 rivers). The proposed Teesta Water-Sharing Pact, which has been a point of discord between Bangladesh and India, is yet to be concluded.

The other apprehension from abrogation of IWT is that it might help strength of Lashkar-e-Taebbya (LeT). Any abrogation of the treaty will impact Punjab, Pakistan's most prosperous province, strengthening the LeT. JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed in the past has accused India of withholding water to Pakistan and scrapping of IWT will give him a perfect opportunity to step up recruitment. Pakistan's Punjab is LeT's biggest support base.

Further, as the World Bank brokered IWT in 1960, there is an involvement of the third party and it is difficult to abrogate the treaty unilaterally by any of the three parties. India is negotiating other river project treaties with Pakistan with IWT as the basis. In the past India has got green signal for Baglihar Dam in J&K. Delhi has also won from Hague Court rights for diverting a minimum amount of water for power generation under Kishanganga Project. All these flow from successful implementation of IWT by all signatories, experts noted.

It may be recalled that since the ratification of the treaty in 1960, India and Pakistan have not engaged in any water wars. Most disagreements and disputes have been settled via legal procedures within the framework of the treaty. The treaty is considered to be one of the most successful water sharing endeavours in the world even though analysts acknowledge the need to update certain technical specifications and expand the scope of the document to include climate change.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...rget-china/articleshow/54490210.cms?prtpage=1

 

[Path-Finder]

Moohdhi ji has been going through quite a setback lately. Warmongering and war hysteria in Election campaigning and being in office is just not the same.

 

[Kal Muah]

Another EDITED title. Whatsup with Pakistanis these days?

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Good, let us both china and india block our own rivers. India will survive as it has other sources of water. You think about Pakistan. Let china stop the water as well. They have anyways unilaterally diverted Brahmaputra with taking India into confidence, hence we are not expecting them to honor anything for low riparian states. Out of 6 rivers in IWT, only indus is the one that originates from Tibet plateau, all other five are from JnK, hence India will have impact but will survive, think about Pakistan.
PS: Though I am not in favor of blocking rivers as it causes too much damage on the ecology of the complete river basis, but anything is fair in love and war.....and Pakistan considers India as enemy number 1.

 

[Rizwan Alam]

I seriously think Modi needs a week holiday. Thiland could be the destination. Massage makes you think different. Sandwich massage I would suggest.

 

[Kompromat]

Modi will build a dam in fifteen years, we will blow them up in half an hour. You stop our water, we will be bombing the living shit out of New Delhi.

 

[Max]

another desperate attempt to regain 56inch breast image end in more misery

and what let bhartis think that you will stop our water and we will not act?

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Modi will build a dam in fifteen years, we will blow them up in half an hour. You stop our water, we will be bombing the living shit out of New Delhi.

with nuclear weapons?

 

[VivasvatManu]

Modi will build a dam in fifteen years, we will blow them up in half an hour. You stop our water, we will be bombing the living shit out of New Delhi.

What if he builds a canal to divert the water ?

 

[hussain0216]

Indian's have a habit of engaging mouth before brain

Both this and the years they have spent ballooning up the expectations of the indian public is coming to bite them on their ***

 

[Haystack]

with nuclear weapons?

Do one thing; don't drink water for 2 days, and tell me how you feel and what you would do for a glass of water.
Never push someone beyond his limits. At one stage man becomes fearless, and at that stage the man is most dangerous.

Not only Delhi, also Mumbai, Kolkatta, and anywhere you guys live in huge number will be turned into ashes; and you'll feel the wrath of Green.

We'll have nothing to lose, while you in your comfy little homes will be vaporised.

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Do one thing; don't drink water for 2 days, and tell me how you feel and what you would do for a glass of water.
Never push someone beyond his limits. At one stage man becomes fearless, and at that stage the man is most dangerous.

Not only Delhi, also Mumbai, Kolkatta, and anywhere you guys live in huge number will be turned into ashes; and you'll feel the wrath of Green.

We'll have nothing to lose, while you in your comfy little homes will be vaporised.

with nuclear weapons?

 

[Haystack]

with nuclear weapons?

With everything we got, babe.

 

[unbiasedopinion]

With everything we got, babe.

Your everything is nuclear weapon..I have not heard of any other weapon system of Pakistan apart from nuclear weapon

 

[AndrewJin]

another desperate attempt to regain 56inch breast image end in more misery

and what let bhartis think that you will stop our water and we will not act?

Why do a lot of PDFer mention 56inch?