Pakistan whips up frenzy over alleged changes in Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan is whipping up tensions over the anticipated changes in the Indus Water Treaty with India after a purported statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month threatening to block the flow of water into Pakistan.

Pakistan has firmly stated that it will not accept any alterations or changes to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after India offered to engage Pakistan to resolve the current differences over the Kishenganga and Ratle projects under the Indus Water Treaty.

Pakistan is opposing India's building of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric plants, saying that it violates the provisions of the treaty.

''Pakistan will not accept any modifications or changes to the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty. Our position is based on the principles enshrined in the treaty. And the treaty must be honoured in...letter and spirit'', the Dawn quoted special assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,  Tariq Fatemi, as saying.

India said it was ready to resolve differences over Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan bilaterally.

Officials also say the World Bank has no mandate to ask Islamabad and New Delhi to resolve the issue bilaterally.

''The World Bank's role is limited to facilitating the appointment of chairman, court of arbitration,'' reports quoting Kamal Majidullah, the prime minister's former special assistant on water resources, as saying.

The Indus Water Treaty, which was signed in 1960 by the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan, gives India control over the three eastern rivers of the Indus basin, the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej while Pakistan has the three western rivers, the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum.

As per the provisions in the treaty, India can use only 20 per cent of the total water carried by the Indus River.

The treaty, however, does not prohibit India from building a hydroelectric project that will still leave the waters for Pakistan to use.

Pakistan has taken a hard stance on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in which India and the World Bank are co-signees in the Indus Water Treaty, but a hard stance by Pakistan has forced World Bank to opt out of conceliatory talks.

The World Bank recently paused arbitration between the two countries over two dams being built by India, and asked the governments "to consider alternative ways" to solve this problem.

Islamabad now says that India is buying time to complete its two hydropower projects and then insist at the arbitration that since the project was already complete, it could not be modified.

The Indus Waters Treaty has been one of the most successful international treaties and has withstood frequent tensions between India and Pakistan, including two of the three wars that the two countries fought.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission, which includes a commissioner from each of the two countries. It also sets out a process for resolving so-called "questions", "differences" and "disputes" that may arise between the parties.