Pakistan violated spirit of Indus Water Treaty through terror: India

United Nations: India has accused Pakistan of breaching the Indus Water Treaty, citing repeated terrorist attacks that undermine its goodwill and obstruction of critical infrastructure upgrades needed for safety and modernisation.

“Despite this, India has shown extraordinary patience and magnanimity,” said India’s Permanent Representative P. Harish, responding to what he said was Pakistan’s campaign of disinformation about New Delhi suspending the treaty.

“India has finally announced that the treaty will be in abeyance until Pakistan, which is a global epicentre of terror, credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism. It is clear that it is Pakistan which remains in violation of the Indus Water Treaty and not India,” he said.

Following last month's deadly attack by Pakistan-based terrorists that claimed 26 lives, India announced the suspension of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, originally brokered by the World Bank to ensure Pakistan's steady access to the Indus and its tributaries.

At an informal Security Council meeting on safeguarding water in conflict zones, Harish highlighted the challenges that have emerged since the treaty's inception.

“Far-reaching fundamental changes have taken place not only in terms of escalating security concerns through cross-border terror attacks but also growing requirements for producing clean energy, climate change, and demographic change,” he said.

While the technology for dam infrastructure improved to ensure safety and more efficient water use, “some of the old dams are facing serious safety concerns”.

He said that New Delhi formally asked Islamabad on several occasions in the last two years to discuss modifications of the treaty to no avail.

“Pakistan has continued to consistently block any changes to this infrastructure and any modifications of the provisions, which are permissible under the treaty,” Harish said.

Harish underscored that the Indus Water Treaty, founded on principles of goodwill and friendship, has been repeatedly undermined by Pakistan through three wars and thousands of terror attacks. He further stressed that these actions continue to jeopardise the security of vital infrastructure and endanger civilian lives.

"In the last four decades, more than 20,000 Indian lives have been lost in terror attacks, the most recent of which was the dastardly targeted terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam last month. In fact, in 2012, terrorists even attacked the Tulbul Navigation Project in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

(inputs from IANS)