ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said at a seminar on Tuesday that Pakistan would not accept any amendments to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Speaking at the seminar titled “Indus Waters Treaty: Issues and Recommen­dations”, which was organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, the minister said: “Any changes to the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will neither be desirable nor acceptable.”

The accord that governs water-sharing arrangements between India and Pakistan and which, in Mr Asif’s words, “withstood major wars and crises” between the two countries has lately been under great stress. The situation has become complicated because the strains over the agreement coincided with the low in bilateral relations.

Blames India for not cooperating to solve problem

The Indian leadership has talked about revoking the agreement or revisiting it.

The foreign minister expressed the hope that India would review its position, which affects Pakistan’s right of receiving unhindered flows from the western rivers except for the restricted use of the water allowed to India under the agreement.

India is pursuing a plan to construct a number of hydropower and water storage projects that could affect the pattern and flow of the western rivers, if constructed and operated in violation of the treaty, Mr Asif said.

Any violation of the treaty by India could adversely affect agriculture sector, hydropower generation and environment in Pakistan.

The two neighbours are currently locked in a dispute over the design of Kishanganga and Ratle hydropower projects being built in India-held Kashmir.

Mr Asif urged the World Bank, which is one of the signatories to the treaty, to play a “constructive role” in resolving the dispute.

The bank earlier this month hosted a Pakistan-India meeting on the dispute, while another session is expected to be held in Washington next month.

Following a deadlock in the bilateral dispute resolution mechanism, Pakistan approached the World Bank for appointment of a court of arbitration to look into its complaints about the design of the two projects, whereas India has been seeking the appointment of a neutral expert on the matter.

The bank says it has been encouraging the two countries to agree amicably on a mechanism to address the issues concerned.

Mr Asif accused India of being non-cooperative on the treaty. He said India delayed the holding of the meetings of Permanent Indus Commission and did not allow inspection tours sought by Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2017