Parched Pak wrote 4 letters to India to reinstate Indus Waters Treaty: Sources

Pakistan, which is facing a severe water crisis, wrote to India four times, asking it to reinstate the Indus Waters Treaty that was suspended in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, sources told India Today TV.

As part of a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, India paused the World Bank-brokered water-water sharing deal between the two neighbours in 1960, after Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

In the four letters written by Pakistan's Ministry of Water Resources, Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza urged India to reconsider its decision to stop the Indus Waters Treaty in May before Operation Sindoor. Later, the ministry wrote three more letters to New Delhi and appealed to reinstate the agreement.

According to sources, the Jal Shakti Ministry has sent all the four letters from Pakistan to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Pakistan had also requested the World Bank, which brokered the deal, to intervene in the matter, sources said. However, the World Bank refused to step into the issue, they added.

The agreement allocates the eastern rivers - Sutlej, Beas and Ravi - to India and the western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - to Pakistan.

During his address to the nation last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear to Pakistan that water and blood cannot flow together while reacting to the pause of the Indus Waters Treaty.

India has said it will keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance until Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably abjures" its support for cross-border terrorism.

INDIA'S PLANS TO UTILISE INDUS WATER

Meanwhile, India is planning to construct a 130-km-long canal that will connect the Beas river to the Ganga canal. There is also a proposal to build a canal to connect Indus with the Yamuna, sources said.

A 12-km-long tunnel is planned to be built as part of the 200-km-long project. States like Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, and Delhi are expected to benefit from the project.

According to the government, work is going on at a fast pace on the project and is expected to be completed within two to three years. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the entire project regarding Indus water will be made soon.

Sources said while rabi crops in Pakistan may be affected due to the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, the impact on kharif crops will be less. The pause of the treaty has already created a water crisis in the neighbouring country.

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