India is considering plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of what it claims to be retaliatory action for a deadly April attack on tourists that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, according to four people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delhi suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty<\/a> (IWT) of 1960, which governs the usage of the Indus river system, shortly after 26 civilians<\/a> in India-held Kashmir were killed in what India called an act of terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pakistan has denied involvement in the incident, but accord remains \u201cin abeyance\u201d by India despite the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreeing a\u00a0ceasefire<\/a>\u00a0last week following the worst fighting between them in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>After the April 22 attack, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered officials to expedite planning and\u00a0execution<\/a>\u00a0of projects on the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers, three bodies of water in the Indus system that are designated primarily for Pakistan\u2019s use, six people told\u00a0Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the key plans under discussion involves doubling to 120km the length of the Ranbir canal on the Chenab, which runs through India to Pakistan\u2019s agricultural powerhouse of Punjab, two of the people said. The canal was built in the 19th century, long before the treaty was signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India is permitted to draw a limited amount of water from the Chenab for irrigation, but an expanded canal \u2014 which experts said could take years to construct \u2014 would allow it to divert 150 cubic meters of water per second, up from about 40 cubic meters currently, the four people said, citing official discussions and documents they had seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Details of the Indian government\u2019s deliberations on expanding Ranbir have not previously been reported. The discussions started last month and continue even after the ceasefire, one of the people said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Indian ministries responsible for water and foreign affairs, as well as Modi\u2019s office, did not respond to Reuters\u2019<\/em> questions. Indian hydropower giant NHPC, which operates many projects in the Indus system, also did not respond to an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modi said in a fiery speech this week that \u201cwater and blood cannot flow together,\u201d though he didn\u2019t refer to the treaty. Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters on Tuesday that India \u201cwill keep the treaty in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The water and foreign ministries of Pakistan did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers this week that the government had written to India arguing that suspending the treaty was unlawful and that Islamabad regarded it as remaining in force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Islamabad said after India suspended the treaty in April that it considered \u201cany attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan\u201d to be an \u201cact of war.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n About 80 per cent of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any efforts by Delhi to build dams, canals or other infrastructure that would withhold or divert significant amount of flow from the Indus system to India \u201cwould take years to realise,\u201d said water security expert David Michel of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Pakistan has had a preview of the kind of pressure it could face from India: Water at a key receiving point in Pakistan briefly fell<\/a> by as much as 90pc in early May after India started maintenance work<\/a> on some Indus projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, World Bank President Ajay Banga said<\/a> that there is no provision in the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) for suspension, in an interview with Indian broadcaster CNBC-TV18.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking in New Delhi, he had said, \u201cThere is no provision in the treaty to allow it to be suspended, the way it (IWT) was drawn up, it either needs to be gone or it needs to be replaced by another one. That requires the two countries to want to agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe treaty is not suspended, it\u2019s technically called something in abeyance, is how the Indian government worded it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Article XII of the IWT makes it clear<\/a> that it can only be modified by mutual agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Indus system runs through some of the world\u2019s most geopolitically tense areas, originating near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet and snaking through India\u2019s north and Pakistan\u2019s east and southeast, before emptying into the Arabian Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The treaty is widely seen as one of the world\u2019s most successful water-sharing accords, having survived several major wars and longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It restricts<\/a> India largely to setting up low-impact hydropower projects on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan. Delhi has freedom to utilise the waters of three other rivers – the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi tributaries \u2014 as it sees fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside the plans to expand Ranbir canal, India is also considering projects that would likely reduce the flow of water into Pakistan from rivers allocated to that country, according to two government documents seen by Reuters<\/em> and interviews with five people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One document, an undated note prepared by a government company for officials considering irrigation plans, suggests that water from the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum \u201cpotentially be distributed into rivers\u201d in three northern Indian states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the people said the document, the details of which have not been previously reported, was created for discussions with power ministry officials after the April 22 attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>WB president says \u2018no provision\u2019 in IWT for suspension<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Success threatened<\/h2>\n\n\n\n