Pakistan Receives a Notice from India to Modify the 1960 Indus Water Treaty

     India declared on Friday that it wanted to alter the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), which it has had with Pakistan for 62 years. This was attributed to Pakistan's "intransigence" in resolving disagreements over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, both in Jammu and Kashmir.

     In addition, India objected to Pakistan's "unilateral" choice to submit a dispute to The Hague's arbitration court. According to sources, the government wrote to Pakistan on Wednesday, January 25, requesting charges to the Treaty following Article XII (3) of the IWT, which is concerned with the "final provisions" of the Treaty.

     On Friday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, opened the first hearing in the Pakistani lawsuit. India chose to abstain from the proceedings. Giving Pakistan notice and asking for a response within 90 days is a significant move that may cause the water-sharing agreement to fall apart and need to be renegotiated.

     When the two nations have ceased commerce and culture exchanges and the majority of bilateral talks, the pact is sometimes viewed as a rare instance of India-Pakistan unanimity. The sources claimed that Pakistan's effort to pressure the World Bank for a Court of Arbitration opposed the World Bank's present method of resolving disputes by appointing a "neutral expert."

     According to Indian authorities, the "parallel processes" rather than a "graded mechanism" had resulted in a deadlock. India had no choice but to insist that Pakistan sit down and negotiate treaty modifications. On the particular improvements that India would require, officials declined to comment.

     According to sources, the dispute mechanism's explanation was the main topic of discussion during the renegotiations. It was also stated that the chance to use "lessons learned" since 1960 would present itself during the current intergovernmental negotiations on the IWT.

     The sources stated: "Pakistan's actions have adversely affected the provisions of IWT and their implementation, forcing."

     India must publish the proper notification before changing the IWT. The start of two concurrent processes on the same issues and the possibility of their divergent or contradictory results create an unprecedented and legally untenable situation that could put IWT in peril.

     The Indian reports on the notice were "diversionary," according to Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA), which also claimed that the Court of Arbitration had been established "under the relevant provisions of the IWT."

     The World Bank praised the Treaty as "one of the most successful transboundary water management treaties in the world and stated it was a "profoundly important" international accord in favor of South Asia's peace and prosperity.

     Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi are the three eastern tributaries of the Indus River, to which India is granted unlimited access. In comparison, Pakistan is granted access to the three western tributaries under the terms of the Indus treaty, which divided the six Himalayan rivers equally between India and Pakistan. (Indus or Sindhu, Jhelum and Chenab).

     In 2006, Pakistan first voiced concerns over India's plans to build the 330 MW Kishenganga hydroelectric project on the Jhelum River. Later, Pakistan expressed doubts about the 850 MW Ratle hydroelectric project that would be made on the Chenab River.

     Given that the Jhelum and Chenab were considered "western tributaries" by the Treaty of India and Pakistan, they disagreed on whether the technical aspects of the hydroelectric schemes were compiled with the agreement.

Article IX of the Treaty, which deals with the "Settlement of Differences and Disputes," lists three options for resolving objections raised by either party:

 

●       Working within the "Permanent Indus Commission" (PIC), a group of Indian and Pakistani water experts who regularly meet.

●       Consulting a World Bank-appointed neutral expert.

●       Setting up a court process to decide the case through the World Bank and the Permanent Court of Arbitrage (PCA).

     On the other hand, Pakistan had pushed forward without waiting for India's consent. However, India has maintained that each step must be thoroughly exhausted before both sides agree to move on to the next.

     The Permanent Indus Water Commission, conducted last in Delhi in May 2022 and scheduled to meet in Lahore this year, last met Indian and Pakistani negotiators in November 2022. Pakistan asked the World Bank to appoint an impartial expert in 2015 after nearly ten years of trying to address the issues, but later changed its mind and requested a Court of Arbitration.

     The World Bank paused both processes in 2016, concerned that the results of the two methods would be in 2016, worried that the results of the two operations would be in disagreement. In March 2022, the World Bank lifted the delay.

     One of South Asia's most influential international treaties that have survived wars and tension between India and Pakistan is the Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan. It has never been amended.

     The agreement specifies how the Indus River and its tributaries' waters, essential to Pakistan's and north India's agriculture and other economic activity, will be shared.

 

 

 

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