Pakistan appeals to India to reconsider Indus water treaty suspension

New Delhi (India) May 15: An important water-sharing agreement that has remained for more than 60 years is the Indus Waters Treaty. The appeal follows India's decision to cancel the 1960 agreement after another terrorist attack supported by Pakistan, this time in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians, mainly tourists.

India has put the pact on hold until Islamabad "credibly and irrevocably" stops supporting terrorism, stating its national security responsibility.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision-making body in strategic affairs, approved the action, which was the first time New Delhi has stopped the World Bank-brokered agreement.

It is said that Syed Ali Murtaza, the secretary of Pakistan's ministry of water resources, wrote to Debashree Mukherjee, the secretary of India's Jal Shakti ministry, making the appeal. However, Pakistan calls India's action "unilateral and illegal" and "equivalent to an attack on the people of Pakistan and its economy," so the tone of the letter is not entirely peaceful.

New Delhi did not respond to the "appeal" with any comments. Sources, however, said that it would not change the cabinet committee on security's decision to halt the pact on April 23 in response to the deaths of tourists in Pahalgam.

In order to stop any Indus water from flowing into Pakistan, India has now designed a three-tiered strategy: short-, mid-, and long-term.

According to Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil, measures are being made to guarantee that no water drop is let to get out of Indian land wasted.

In his first speech since Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the government's consistent stand that

"Water and blood cannot flow together. Terror and talks cannot happen at the same time. Terror and trade cannot happen simultaneously.”

Aadrika Tayal