In an indication that the government was weighing extreme diplomatic actions against Pakistan in the wake of the terror attack on an Army camp in Uri, Kashmir, last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to chair a meeting on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on Monday.
The IWT between India and Pakistan was sealed in 1960.
The IWT, brokered by the World Bank, was signed between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Pakistani counterpart General Ayub Khan.
Studying fallout
The meeting that the Prime Minister will chair would have representatives from the Water Resources and External Affairs Ministries. “It is only a meeting to assess the Indus Waters Treaty. The Prime Minister will discuss the pros and cons of turning off the tap to Pakistan,” said a top government official.
The meeting comes in the wake of Mr. Modi’s first public speech post-Uri attacks in Kozhikode on Saturday.
Mr. Modi had said the government would take measures to isolate Pakistan diplomatically.
SC refuses urgent hearing on PIL
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant an urgent hearing on a PIL seeking declaration of the IWT as unconstitutional.
“There is no urgency in the matter. It will come up for hearing in due course,” a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar said.
Advocate M L Sharma, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity on the issue, sought urgent hearing of the matter, saying the treaty was unconstitutional as it was not signed as per the constitutional scheme and hence should be declared “void ab initio“.
“Keep politics aside. The matter will come in due course,” the bench said when the lawyer insisted on an urgent hearing.
