India will never restore the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Islamabad, and the water flowing to Pakistan will be diverted for internal use, Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview with Times of India on Saturday.
Delhi unilaterally suspended its participation in the 1960 IWT, which governs the usage of the Indus river system, on April 23, shortly after 26 civilians were killed in India-held Kashmir. Delhi, without evidence, blamed Islamabad for the attack. The latter has denied the allegations and called for a neutral probe.
The accord remains dormant despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the two nuclear-armed neighbours last month following their worst fighting in decades.
Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned India’s unilateral suspension of the IWT, describing it as a “blatant violation and act of water aggression”, and warned that Pakistan would give a befitting response in line with decisions made at the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held on April 24.
“No, it will never be restored,” Shah told the daily.
“We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” Shah said, referring to the northwestern Indian state.
The latest comments from Shah, the most powerful cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, reveal Delhi’s intentions as Islamabad’s hopes for negotiations on the treaty in the near term.
Last month, Reuters reported that India plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
But it has said in the past that the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back, and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered “an act of war”.
Islamabad is also exploring a legal challenge to India’s decision to hold the treaty in abeyance under international law.
Held Kashmir’s CM opposes diverting waters to other states
Indian-held Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday opposed diverting the state’s waters to Punjab and other neighbouring states now that the IWT with Pakistan stands suspended, asking why they should get more water when they already have three rivers while parts of the Union Territory are facing an acute water shortage, India’s Telegraph reported.
“Nobody will take it. At least I will not allow it as of now. First allow us to use our water, then we will talk about others. There is a drought-like situation in Jammu. There is no water in taps,” Abdullah told reporters.
Abdullah was reacting to the purported central government move to conduct a feasibility study for constructing a 113km-long canal to direct the surplus flow from the three western rivers of the Indus water system, the report said.
“Why should I take water to Punjab? There are already three rivers with Punjab (and the other two states) under the Indus Waters Treaty. Did they give us water when we needed it?” he was quoted as having said.
Omar referred to Punjab’s purported refusal to share water during disputes over the Ujh multipurpose project and the Shahpur Kandi barrage in Jammu in the past. “We were in dire straits then but they kept us waiting for years…. After years, some work was done on the Shahpur Kandi barrage,” he said.
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