Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday alleged that India was not fulfilling its commitments regarding the Indus Waters Treaty and urged the World Bank (WB) to play its role in ensuring the implementation of the accord.

Addressing a seminar in the federal capital, the foreign minister highlighted the importance of building water resources following the recent climatic changes.

“Pakistan has raised reservations over the designs of India’s dams,” Asif told the audience.

The matter of Indus Waters Treaty is an important issue between the two sovereign countries, [but] India is not cooperating in the implementation of the accord, the defence minister said.

Commenting on the local issues regarding water distribution, Asif said that the government is only able to recover 80 per cent of the money spent on distribution of water locally. “We [Pakistanis] use water in a manner as if we have unlimited resources,” he added. “If we continue to waste water like this, we will have to face some serious issues in the near future.”

The previous governments had taken no initiatives to address this grave concern, complained Asif, adding that the incumbent government realised the issue and formed a separate ministry for this.