Challenges to Indus Waters Treaty and Options for Pakistan

The Indus water treaty was signed on 19th September 1960 by India and Pakistan under the aegis of the World Bank. Bilateral principles regarding water apportionment between both states were ensured by the Treaty. As a result, waters of the eastern rivers; Sutlej, Beas and Ravi, were assigned exclusively to India, while Pakistan received exclusive water rights of the western rivers; the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab but India is allowed to irrigate some specific land in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to generate hydroelectric power through run-off-the river projects. Following the Uri incident, the Indian government and media are generating ideas to discard the Indus water treaty. This paper focuses on legal and international implications if India attempts to unilaterally revoke the Treaty.

Download Full-text

Indus Waters

Animosity at Bay ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190087579.003.0006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 117-138

Author(s):

Pallavi Raghavan

Keyword(s):

World Bank ◽

Early Stages ◽

The World Bank ◽

The World ◽

Book Covers ◽

Water Treaty ◽

Canal Networks ◽

Indus Waters Treaty

In this chapter, I wish to offer a pre-history to the Indus Water Treaty of 1960. Since the period that this book covers ends at 1952, and since I wish to situate the discussions around the treaty as a means of implementing the partition, it becomes particularly important to understand the considerations that affected the early stages of the Indus negotiations. I argue that although the Indus Waters Treaty, negotiated under the auspices of the World Bank, was signed only in 1960, over a decade after the partition, many of its clauses had built upon the assumptions that had been formed by 1950. Indeed, by 1951, both the source of the problem—the fear that enough water would not be allowed to flow in to Pakistan from the canals that had been built before the partition—as well as its solution—that new canal networks would have to be developed in a way that would satisfy the separate requirements of both India and Pakistan—were already apparent. The discussions around Indus waters in the years that immediately followed the partition, offer valuable insights into how the implementation of the partition was conceptualized.

Download Full-text

Indus Water Treaty: Past Present and Future

Journal of Global Economy ◽

10.1956/jge.v16i4.601 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 61-86

Author(s):

Shahnawaz Mantoo

Keyword(s):

Historical Background ◽

Indus Basin ◽

Boundary Line ◽

Political Issue ◽

The World Bank ◽

The World ◽

Water Treaty ◽

Area Of Concern ◽

Indus Waters Treaty ◽

Irrigation Waters

Natural resources are fundamental and imperative for the existence and evolution of human civilizations. Water being most important scarce natural resource has become a contentious political issue in the world. South Asia being a less connected and conflict ridden region, Water related conflicts have been a dominant area of concern. At the time of independence, the boundary line between the two newly created independent countries, i.e. Pakistan and India was drawn right across the Indus Basin, leaving Pakistan as the lower riparian. Dispute thus arose between the two countries regarding the utilization of irrigation waters from existing facilities. The negotiations held under the World Bank, culminated in the signing of Indus Waters Treaty in 1960. The paper will examine the historical background of the treaty; the contentious developments which have arose over the years and will also discuss the Kashmir perspective on the treaty. The paper will also evaluate the present disagreeing arguments of both states over the treaty.

Download Full-text

Pakistan’s Indus Diplomacy: From Troubled Waters to a Troubled Treaty

International Negotiation ◽

10.1163/15718069-bja10038 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Muhammad Imran Mehsud

Keyword(s):

World Bank ◽

River System ◽

Functional Approach ◽

Indus River ◽

The World Bank ◽

The World ◽

Water Dispute ◽

Indus Waters Treaty

Abstract This article analyzes six major crises in Pakistan’s Indus diplomacy which shaped Pakistan’s water (in)security vis-à-vis upstream rival India on the Indus river system. These include first, when Pakistan failed to comply with the Standstill Agreement of 1947; second, when it signed the Inter-Dominion Agreement; third, when it acquiesced to the Nehru-Lilienthal-favored functional approach to the Indus water dispute in 1951; fourth, when the World Bank Proposal of 1954 apportioned exclusive use of the Western Rivers to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers to India, but Pakistan delayed accepting the Proposal; fifth, when India secured rights on the Western Rivers in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960; and sixth, several challenges that have emerged under the Indus Waters Treaty.

Download Full-text

The Baglihar difference and its resolution process - a triumph for the Indus Waters Treaty?

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2008.060b ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 105-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Salman M. A. Salman

Keyword(s):

World Bank ◽

Hydropower Plant ◽

Resolution Process ◽

The World Bank ◽

The World ◽

The Difference ◽

Under Construction ◽

Indus Waters Treaty

On January 15, 2005, Pakistan approached the World Bank asking the Bank to appoint a Neutral Expert to address a “difference” which had arisen with India under the Indus Waters Treaty. The difference related to the Baglihar hydropower plant which was under construction by India. The Bank appointed a Neutral Expert four months later, following lengthy exchanges with the two parties. On February 12, 2007, about 20 months after his appointment, the Neutral Expert issued his decision on the difference. This article reviews the main provisions of the Treaty, examines the process for the appointment and for the decision of the Neutral Expert, and analyzes the decision.

Download Full-text

Role of the World Bank in Negotiation Process of the Indus Water Treaty.

JOURNAL OF JAPAN SOCIETY OF HYDROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES ◽

10.3178/jjshwr.9.77 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 77-87 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mikiyasu NAKAYAMA

Keyword(s):

World Bank ◽

Negotiation Process ◽

The World Bank ◽

The World ◽

Water Treaty

Download Full-text

Indus Water Treaty: Threats of Abrogation, Plans for Revision and Prospects of Survivability

Global Regional Review ◽

10.31703/grr.2017(ii-i).27 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol II (I) ◽

pp. 375-388

Author(s):

Manzoor Ahmad ◽

Naveeda Yousaf ◽

Muhammad Zubair

Keyword(s):

World Bank ◽

Water Security ◽

Water Shortage ◽

Indus Basin ◽

Current Crisis ◽

The World Bank ◽

The World ◽

The Face ◽

Water Treaty ◽

Water Issues

Indus Basin Treaty which was brokered by the World Bank for resolving water issues between Pakistan and India. Despite persistent hostilities and wars between the two arch-rivals, the treaty has functioned well and is still crucial for Pakistans water security and peace of the region. However, owing to increasing tension of water shortage in both Pakistan and India strains arise over the treaty. Growing Pakistani demands for water and sustained Indian construction of hydropower projects, as well as other dams on western rivers, have raised threats regarding the survivability of the treaty. Presently the treaty has come under intense threats after Uri attacks. Due to this incident some Indian commentators recommended abrogation, while some circles proposed revision of the treaty. However, questions arise whether revision of the treaty suit Pakistans interests? Will the treaty survive in the face of current crisis? What is Pakistans current stand on the issue?

Download Full-text