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The Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
India says it will never restore Indus water treaty with Pakistan
FILE PHOTO: People walk next to a cultivated land on the dry riverbed of the Indus River in Hyderabad, Pakistan April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput/File Photo NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India will never restore the Indus Waters Treaty with Islamabad, and the water flowing to Pakistan will be diverted for internal use, Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview with Times of India on Saturday. India put into "abeyance" its participation in the 1960 treaty, which governs the usage of the Indus river system, after 26 civilians in Indian Kashmir were killed in what Delhi described as an act of terror. The treaty had guaranteed water access for 80% of Pakistan's farms through three rivers originating in India. Pakistan has denied involvement in the incident, but the accord remains dormant despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the two nuclear-armed neighbours last month following their worst fighting in decades. "No, it will never be restored," Shah told the daily. "We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably," Shah said, referring to the northwestern Indian state. The latest comments from Shah, the most powerful cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, have dimmed Islamabad's hopes for negotiations on the treaty in the near term. Last month, Reuters reported that India plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. But it has said in the past that the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered "an act of war". Islamabad is also exploring a legal challenge to India's decision to hold the treaty in abeyance under international law. ($1 = 86.5600 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
India says it will never restore Indus water treaty with Pakistan
FILE PHOTO: People walk next to a cultivated land on the dry riverbed of the Indus River in Hyderabad, Pakistan April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput/File Photo India says it will never restore Indus water treaty with Pakistan NEW DELHI - India will never restore the Indus Waters Treaty with Islamabad, and the water flowing to Pakistan will be diverted for internal use, Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview with Times of India on Saturday. India put into "abeyance" its participation in the 1960 treaty, which governs the usage of the Indus river system, after 26 civilians in Indian Kashmir were killed in what Delhi described as an act of terror. The treaty had guaranteed water access for 80% of Pakistan's farms through three rivers originating in India. Pakistan has denied involvement in the incident, but the accord remains dormant despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the two nuclear-armed neighbours last month following their worst fighting in decades. "No, it will never be restored," Shah told the daily. "We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably," Shah said, referring to the northwestern Indian state. The latest comments from Shah, the most powerful cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, have dimmed Islamabad's hopes for negotiations on the treaty in the near term. Last month, Reuters reported that India plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. But it has said in the past that the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered "an act of war". Islamabad is also exploring a legal challenge to India's decision to hold the treaty in abeyance under international law. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
India weighs plan to slash Pakistan water supply with new Indus river project
FILE PHOTO: Fishermen clear a fishing net in the water on the partially dried up riverbed of the Indus River in Hyderabad, Pakistan April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput/File Photo NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD - India is considering plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action for a deadly April attack on tourists that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, according to four people familiar with the matter. Delhi suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs usage of the Indus river system, shortly after 26 civilians in Indian Kashmir were killed in what India called an act of terror. Pakistan has denied involvement in the incident, but the accord has not been revived despite the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreeing a ceasefire last week following the worst fighting between them in decades. After the April 22 attack, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered officials to expedite planning and execution of projects on the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers, three bodies of water in the Indus system that are designated primarily for Pakistan's use, six people told Reuters. One of the key plans under discussion involves doubling to 120km the length of the Ranbir canal on the Chenab, which runs through India to Pakistan's agricultural powerhouse of Punjab, two of the people said. The canal was built in the 19th century, long before the treaty was signed. India is permitted to draw a limited amount of water from the Chenab for irrigation, but an expanded canal - which experts said could take years to construct - would allow it to divert 150 cubic meters of water per second, up from about 40 cubic meters currently, the four people said, citing official discussions and documents they had seen. Details of the Indian government's deliberations on expanding Ranbir have not previously been reported. The discussions started last month and continue even after the ceasefire, one of the people said. The Indian ministries responsible for water and foreign affairs, as well as Modi's office, did not respond to Reuters' questions. Indian hydropower giant NHPC, which operates many projects in the Indus system, also did not respond to an email seeking comment. Modi said in a fiery speech this week that "water and blood cannot flow together," though he didn't refer to the treaty. Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters Tuesday that India "will keep the treaty in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism". The water and foreign ministries of Pakistan did not respond to requests for comment. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers this week that the government had written to India arguing that suspending the treaty was unlawful and that Islamabad regarded it as remaining in force. Islamabad said after India suspended the treaty in April that it considered "any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan" to be an "act of war." About 80% of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million. Any efforts by Delhi to build dams, canals or other infrastructure that would withhold or divert significant amount of flow from the Indus system to India "would take years to realize," said water security expert David Michel of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. But Pakistan has had a preview of the kind of pressure it could face from India: Water at a key receiving point in Pakistan briefly fell by as much as 90% in early May after India started maintenance work on some Indus projects. SUCCESS THREATENED The Indus system runs through some of the world's most geopolitically tense areas, originating near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet and snaking through India's north and Pakistan's east and southeast, before emptying into the Arabian Sea. The treaty is widely seen as one of the world's most successful water-sharing accords, having survived several major wars and longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan. Islamabad has previously opposed many Indian projects in the Indus system, while Delhi said after the Kashmir attack that it had been trying to renegotiate the treaty since 2023 to account for population increases and its rising need for clean hydroenergy. The treaty restricts India largely to setting up low-impact hydropower projects on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan. Delhi has freedom to utilize the waters of three other rivers - the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi tributaries - as it sees fit. Alongside the plans to expand Ranbir canal, India is also considering projects that would likely reduce the flow of water into Pakistan from rivers allocated to that country, according to two government documents seen by Reuters and interviews with five people familiar with the matter. One document, an undated note prepared by a government company for officials considering irrigation plans, suggests that water from the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum "potentially be distributed into rivers" in three northern Indian states. One of the people said the document, the details of which haven't been previously reported, was created for discussions with power ministry officials after the April 22 attack. Delhi has also created a list of hydropower projects in its Jammu and Kashmir territory that it hopes will expand capacity to 12,000 megawatts, up from the current 3,360 MW. The list, which was created by the power ministry and seen by Reuters, was not dated. A person familiar with the document said it was created before the Kashmir incident but is actively being discussed by government officials. The prospective projects also include dams that can store large volumes of water, in what would be a first for India in the Indus river system, according to two people familiar with the matter. India has identified at least five possible storage projects, four of which are on tributaries of the Chenab and Jhelum, according to the power ministry document. POLITICAL WRANGLING The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, though each controls only parts of the area. The region has been ravaged by an anti-India insurgency for decades, which Delhi has accused Islamabad of fuelling and funding. Pakistan denies the charges. International relations expert Happymon Jacob at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University said that India's new focus on the Indus Waters Treaty reflected an attempt to pressure Pakistan over Kashmir. "With the latest conflict, Delhi may refuse to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan in any format," he said. "Delhi has not only progressively narrowed the scope of bilateral talks but has also curtailed the agenda, focusing only on specific issues like the IWT." Pakistan has said that it is preparing legal action in several international forums, including the World Bank, which facilitated the treaty, as well as the Permanent Court of Arbitration or the International Court of Justice in the Hague. "Water should not be weaponised," Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Monday. "We don't even want to consider any scenario which ... does not take into account the reinstatement of this treaty." Michel, the U.S.-based expert, said that concern over the treaty's suspension was not limited to Islamabad. "As geopolitical competition across the region deepens, more than a few Indian observers fear that Delhi's use of water against Islamabad risks licensing Beijing to adopt the same strategy against India," he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Fragile ceasefire holds between India, Pakistan as Trump offers more help
People celebrate after the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, in Hyderabad, Pakistan, May 10, 2025. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput AMRITSAR, India/ MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - A fragile ceasefire was holding between India and Pakistan on Sunday, after hours of overnight fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he will work to provide a solution regarding Kashmir. The arch rivals were involved in intense firing for four days, the worst in nearly three decades, with missiles and drones being fired at each other's military installations and dozens of people killed. A ceasefire agreement was reached after diplomacy and pressure from the United States, but within hours, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian Kashmir, the centre of much of the fighting. Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the border under blackout, similar to the previous two evenings, according to authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses. Late on Saturday, India said Pakistan had violated the understanding arrived to stop firing and that the Indian armed forces had been instructed to "deal strongly" with any repetition. In response, Pakistan said it was committed to the ceasefire and blamed India for the violations. By dawn, the fighting and explosions reported overnight had died down on both sides of the border, according to Reuters witnesses. Power was restored in most areas along India's border towns after a blackout the previous night. Trump praised leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression. "While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if... a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. In the border city of Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, a siren sounded in the morning to resume normal activities brought a sense of relief and people were seen out on the roads. The fighting started on Wednesday, two weeks after 26 men were killed in an attack targeting Hindus in Pahalgam in Indian Kashmir. "Ever since the day terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam we have been shutting our shops very early and there was an uncertainty. I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed on both sides," Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in Amritsar told Reuters. Officials in Pakistan said there was some firing in Bhimber in Pakistani Kashmir overnight but nowhere else, and there were no casualties. The two countries, born out of British colonial rule in 1947, have gone to war three times - twice over the region of Kashmir. Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan both rule part of Kashmir but claim it in full. India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. It also blames Pakistani Islamist militant groups for attacks elsewhere in India. Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists. The combined death toll in the recent skirmishes has reached nearly 70, officials have said. "More than me, my family is happy because my children and wife have been calling me every hour to check on me. Thank God the ceasefire happened," Guruman Singh, a security guard in Amritsar told Reuters. (Reporting by Aftab Ahmed in Jammu, Saurabh Sharma in Amritsar, Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad, Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad, Writing by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Ya Libnan
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Pakistan vows retaliation after Indian airstrikes killed 26 and injured dozens
Demonstrators burn an effigy during an anti-India protest following India's military strikes on Pakistan, in Hyderabad, Pakistan, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput Pakistan said the assault by India had killed 26 people. India blames its neighbor and rival for a terrorist attack in the disputed region of Kashmir last month that also killed 26 people. People in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad held placards and shouted anti Pakistan slogans to celebrate India's military strikes on Pakistan. Reuters Meanwhile in eastern India, members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party were celebrating the success of Operation Sindoor at the state BJP office in Bhubaneswar city by applying sindoor (red vermilion) on their foreheads. Reaction China 'underscored Pakistan's firm resolve to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs.' Jiang Zaidong, China's ambassador to Pakistan, called on Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar today, the ministry said in a statement . China said earlier today that it found India's strikes on Pakistan 'regrettable,' urging both sides to avoid escalation. Beijing and Islamabad have 'close and friendly relations.' Pakistan considers its ties with China as the 'cornerstone' of its foreign policy . Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that 'we will defend our country,' stating no terrorist camps exist within its territory. 'Pakistan is a victim of terrorism,' Tarar told Sky News today. 'As far as the current situation is ongoing, we are responding.' 'Now, be prepared. This nation will hold the enemy accountable for every single drop of its martyrs' blood,' Tarar posted on X earlier today. Pakistan has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack last month, which caused the deaths of at least 26 people, and criticized the deaths caused by India's attacks today. Risk of an all out war India's overnight strikes raise the 'risk of an all-out war,' Turkey's foreign ministry said in a statement today, condemning 'such provocative steps.' Funeral prayers of people who were killed after a madrasa was hit by an Indian strike in Bahawalpur, Pakistan May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmood Zaheer NBC/ Reuters
