No army can destroy a country with bombs and shells as India can by permanently cutting off the water source that sustains Pakistan's farms and people. This was said in the 60s by David Lilienthal, former head of the US Tennessee Valley Authority. Shortly thereafter, India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan's dictator Field Marshal General Ayub Khan came together in Karachi on September 19, 1960 for the Indus Water Treaty.
It is believed that for 13 years after independence, India was embroiled in some dispute or the other with Pakistan. Then Nehru advocated permanent peace in exchange for giving water. But, in the later years, his thinking proved to be a big mistake. Many experts had termed it as Nehru's mistake to make a one-sided agreement. Recently, India has once again demanded Pakistan to review this agreement. Let us know where the roots of the Indus Water Treaty dispute lie and did Nehru really make a mistake. Let us know what is the story behind this.
When did the Indus water dispute start and who fought between them?
According to Lt. Col. JS Sodhi, author of the book 'China's War Clouds' and defense analyst, this treaty is a kind of 'aqua bomb' for India which is actually India's most powerful weapon against Pakistan. India can control the flow of seven rivers flowing in the Indus basin.
But India has used this power only once, which brought Pakistan to its knees. However, that step was very small. Aaron Wolf and Joshua Newton of Oregon State University, USA, explain in a case study that the dispute between India and Pakistan over the sharing of Indus water started even before the partition in 1947. At that time, this fight was going on between the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.
India sent notice for change, but why did it sign Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan?
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When Indian engineers stopped the water supply to Pakistan
In 1947, engineers from India and Pakistan signed a 'standstill agreement' on two major canals going to Pakistan, according to which Pakistan continued to receive water. This agreement remained in force only till 31 March 1948. With the end of this agreement on 1 April, India stopped the water of two major canals, due to which 17 lakh acres of land in Pakistani Punjab started drying up. Engineers of Indian Punjab stopped the supply of water from Ferozepur Headworks to Depalpur Canal and Lahore. The supply of electricity from Mandi Hydroelectric Project was also stopped. Water started being distributed in the second largest city of Pakistan.
Then American experts came to India-Pakistan
According to Dr. Devnath Pathak, Assistant Professor at South Asian University, several reasons were cited behind India's move at that time, one of which was that India wanted to put pressure on Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. However, after the subsequent agreement, India had agreed to continue supplying water. In 1951, David Lilienthal, former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, came to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He also visited Pakistan. When he returned to America, he wrote an article on the division of the Indus River.
That article by David: World Bank enters before the agreement
6 rivers are divided into 3 parts each
The Indus Water Treaty signed between the two countries in 1960 covers the rights to the distribution and use of water from six rivers – Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. Under this treaty, India can use the water of the 'three eastern rivers' Beas, Ravi and Sutlej without any hindrance. At the same time, the ownership of the water of the three 'western rivers' – Indus, Chenab and Jhelum was given to Pakistan. However, India can also use the water of these western rivers for its domestic purposes, irrigation and hydropower. To implement the treaty, the Indus Commission was formed, which has commissioners from both countries. They meet every year and resolve disputes.
Why did India give 80 percent water to Pakistan?
Under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), about 80 percent of the total water of the Indus water system was given to Pakistan, while India got the right to use only 20 percent of the water. India's chief negotiator Niranjan D. Gulati blamed India's confused thinking for this. In his book 'Indus Waters Treaty: An Exercise in International Media', Gulati said that Nehru had reprimanded the East Punjab government and its engineers for stopping the water.
Did Nehru also have China in mind in this agreement?
According to Dr. Devnath Pathak, it is said that Nehru gifted the Indus basin to Pakistan because he also had an aggressive China in mind. China started intruding in the early 1950s. The dragon first started interfering in Tibet and then in the Indian border areas. The intrusion of Chinese troops on the McMahon Line made Nehru realize that now India would have to fight on the China front as well as Pakistan. However, he believed that he could buy peace with water.
Was this agreement really India's water bomb?
According to Pakistani author Moin Ansari's book 'India's Aqua Bomb', why was Pakistan given only 80 percent of its water despite 90 percent of its land being irrigated? This is a huge loss. At the same time, Britain and America silently supported Pakistan on this issue. In fact, Pakistan was created by Britain and America as a protective shield against Russia. They will not let it fail.
Is India suffering huge losses due to this agreement?
One party in India believes that India is suffering huge economic losses due to this agreement. According to the Jammu and Kashmir government, the state is suffering economic losses worth crores every year due to this treaty. A resolution was also passed in the Assembly in 2003 to reconsider this treaty. At the same time, Indian experts believe that Pakistan is using the proposals of this treaty to incite protests in Kashmir.
Pakistan was betrayed in exchange for peace on water
Famous analyst Brahma Chellaney had said in an article that India had signed a treaty with Pakistan in 1960, thinking that it would get peace in exchange for water. But only five years after the treaty came into force, Pakistan attacked Jammu and Kashmir in 1965. This is considered a betrayal on the part of Pakistan.
Can India cancel this treaty?
Brahma Chellaney, author of a book on global conflicts over water, once wrote that India can withdraw from the treaty under Section 62 of the Vienna Convention on the grounds that Pakistan is using terrorist groups against it. The International Court of Justice has said that the treaty can be cancelled if the basic terms change.
The Indus Water System provides water to 300 million people
The area of the Indus river is spread over about 11.2 lakh km. This area falls in Pakistan (47 percent), India (39 percent), China (8 percent) and Afghanistan (6 percent). According to a statistic, about 30 crore people live in the areas around the Indus river. In such a situation, this water is very important for these countries.