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19th September 2024 (10 Topics)

Indus Water Treaty

Context

Citing “fundamental and unforeseen” changes in the circumstances, India has sent a formal notice to Pakistan to seek a review of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).

What is Indus Water Treaty?

  • The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) was signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan with the World Bank as a signatory.
  • Division of Water Resources: Under the provisions of the treaty:
    • Eastern rivers—the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi—are available for unrestricted use by India
    • Western rivers—the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab—are available for unrestricted use by Pakistan
  • In effect, the treaty gave India about 30% of the water carried out by the “Indus Rivers System” while Pakistan got 70% of the waters.
  • This arrangement aimed to ensure equitable water sharing, fostering cooperation between the two nations.
  • Dispute Resolution Process: Article 9 of the treatyoutlines a dispute resolution process, breaking it down into three categories: question, differences and disputes.
    • Under the treaty, the two countries have agreed to first attempt to resolve disputes through the permanent commission and seek the World Bank’s assistance in appointing a neutral expert or set up an arbitration at the Permanent Court of Arbitrage in The Hague, Netherlands, if required.

Why India Wants to Renegotiate the Indus Water Treaty?

  • Changing Circumstances: Key concerns include shifts in population demographics, environmental challenges, and the imperative to advance clean energy development to meet emission targets.
  • Hydroelectric Projects Controversy: The push for renegotiation comes amidst a prolonged dispute over two hydroelectric projects in Jammu & Kashmir—Kishanganga and Ratle.
    • Both projects are designed to utilize the natural flow of rivers for electricity generation without obstructing them.

Fact Box: Indus River

  • The Indus is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia.  
  • The 3,120 km (1,940 mi) river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, bends sharply to the left after the Nanga Parbat massif, and flows south-by-southwest through Pakistan, before emptying into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi.
  • Significance:
    • The river has historically been important to many cultures of the region.
    • The 3rd millennium BC saw the rise of the Indus Valley civilization, a major urban civilization of the Bronze Age.
    • During the 2nd millennium BC, the Punjab region was mentioned in the Rigveda hymns as Sapta Sindhu and in the Avesta religious texts as Saptha Hindu (both terms meaning "seven rivers"). 
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