While the Indus Treaty of 1960 on water sharing between India and Pakistan is regarded as a largely successful instance of conflict resolution between two countries, a new and disturbing development is that water has started to loom large in Indo-Pak relations, Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former Secretary, Water Resources, Government of India said on Tuesday.
In an address on “India's Water Relations with Her Neighbours” hosted by the Centre for Security Analysis (CSA), Mr. Iyer said water sharing in the Indus Basin is no longer a closed issue with Pakistan especially after the neighbour has invoked arbitration over Kishanganga project on the Chenab, accused India of misusing provisions of the Indus Treaty and launching projects that diverted the flow of the Western rivers.
“Even if tomorrow Kashmir is resolved, water will remain a core issue,” he said.
While it could be argued that Pakistan is raising water sharing issues as a diversionary tactic for its inter-provincial conflicts or that water being an emotional issue for the people suits the Pakistan Army, a joint study by experts on both sides on whether there is indeed a reduced flow on the Western rivers could erase the perception that India has not been a fair and just upper riparian, Mr. Iyer said.
The expert also suggested as confidence-building measures studies on the impact of the 33 Indian projects on the Western rivers as the cumulative impact could be bigger than the sum of the individual projects.
According to Mr. Iyer, while India had a comfortable water sharing relationship with Bhutan, the same was not the case with other neighbours in the sub-continental mainland. While the problem with Nepal –the upper riparian – was not primarily over water but a dysfunctional relationship, the potential of disputes with Bangladesh – the lowest riparian – could not be discounted in spite of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty. Water which until recently did not figure prominently in Indo-China relations was now cause of concern especially pertaining to fears over the downstream effects of Chinese engineering engagements on the Brahmaputra, Mr. Iyer said.
Lt. Gen (Retd) V. R. Raghavan, CSA president also participated.
