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Time of India
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘India & Maldives…importance of geography'
The writer is Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Views are personal Modi's state visit to Maldives on Friday, which will reaffirm the traditionally close and friendly relations between the two countries, stands out for several reasons. It's his first visit since Mohamed Muizzu became president in Nov 2023, and he'll be the guest of honour at the country's 60th independence day celebrations. This year also marks 60 years of India's diplomatic ties with Maldives. Although Muizzu was associated with the socalled 'India Out' campaign before the presidential election, Maldives' official readout after his first meeting with Modi, on the sidelines of COP28 in Dubai in Dec 2023, expressed commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, economic cooperation and people-to-people contact. The two sides also agreed to set up a core group. Read full story on TOI+ Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India bleeds Pakistan dry: Water at ‘dead' levels in Pakistan's dams; bigger Indus river plans in the works - top points to know
Looking past short-term measures, India is now working on a bigger plan to effectively utilise the Indus river system to its benefit. (AI image) Pakistan is finding it difficult to get through its kharif season with consistently lower levels of water in dams - a situation brought about by India's suspension of the Indus Waters treaty . And, it's going to get progressively worse in the coming years as India executes several projects on the Indus river system. India is implementing a comprehensive plan to optimise the usage of the Indus river system through inter-basin water transfers. The strategy includes constructing a 113-km canal to redirect excess water from Jammu & Kashmir towards Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. These initiatives are planned alongside current short-term activities involving flushing and desilting of reservoirs at two run-of-the-river hydroelectric facilities - Baglihar and Salal - on the Chenab river. The immediate actions aim to store and regulate maximum water flow following the suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by the Modi government after the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April. Additional medium and long-term strategies include accelerating ongoing hydroelectric developments such as Pakal Dul (1,000 MW), Ratle (850 MW), Kiru (624 MW) and Kwar (540 MW) to utilize water from the Indus river system. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villa For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search ads Learn More Undo India's Big plans for Indus Waters Looking past short-term measures, India is now working on a bigger plan to effectively utilise the Indus river system to its benefit. According to a TOI report, India is looking at a comprehensive plan for inter-basin water transfers, beginning with a feasibility assessment for a 113 km canal to redirect excess water from Jammu & Kashmir to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. India taps into Chenab The proposed canal will connect Chenab with Ravi-Beas-Sutlej, ensuring optimal utilisation of eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) whilst enabling India to fully utilise its allocated share of western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) under the Indus Waters Treaty, thereby preventing excess water flow to Pakistan. Sources told TOI that the Chenab-Ravi-Beas-Sutlej connection is designed to integrate with existing canal infrastructure at 13 points across Jammu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, ultimately linking to the Indira Gandhi canal (Sutlej-Beas). Home Minister Amit Shah recently announced that Indus waters would reach Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan via canals "within three years", benefiting vast agricultural regions whilst potentially limiting Pakistan's water access. Diverting excess water flows from J&K towards Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan could assist in achieving a more balanced regional water distribution. Uttam Sinha, senior fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) is of the view that the plan would strengthen India's water security in the face of climate uncertainties. The connectivity between new and existing canal infrastructure can be established via multiple tunnels at various points in J&K and Punjab. Officials have indicated that the 113-km-long canal project for redirecting surplus water from J&K to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan would be implemented in segments, with 13 priority locations identified for connecting with existing canals. "There is also a proposal to double the length of the existing Ranbir canal, drawing water from the Chenab, from 60 km to 120 km. Efforts will also be made based on the feasibility report to use Pratap canal to its full capacity," said an official. Also Read | Bigger Indus plan: 113km canal to take surplus to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan Additionally, the government plans to restart the long-delayed Ujh multipurpose project in Kathua, J&K, which will serve hydropower, irrigation and drinking purposes. The Ravi-Beas connection beneath Ujh, previously designed to capture surplus water flowing to Pakistan via Ravi through a barrage construction, will now be integrated into the broader inter-basin water transfer initiative. This will enable water diversion through a tunnel to the Beas basin, ensuring India utilises its complete allocation of eastern rivers. River Ujh serves as a primary tributary of Ravi. Pakistan faces 'dead' water levels Meanwhile, water in rivers flowing to Pakistan has reached 'dead' levels. The western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - flowing from India are seeing a continuous reduction in volume, forcing Pakistan to release more water than it receives to meet its drinking and irrigation requirements. Although this is typical during pre-monsoon periods, the situation could worsen as India conducts regular desilting and flushing of dams in Jammu & Kashmir to enhance storage capacity, which will further reduce water flow downstream. Also Read | In kharif season, water levels at 2 key Pakistan dams near 'dead levels' Pakistan's Punjab province, where kharif cultivation has started, is receiving a lower amount of water compared to the same time last year. Pakistan's monsoon rains are expected to begin in about a month, yet water levels in its crucial dams - Mangla on river Jhelum and Tarbela on Indus - have already declined to near their respective 'dead levels' (the point below which gravity cannot drain water from the reservoirs). This means further decrease in water flow from the Indian side may leave Pakistan with few options to facilitate farming operations before the arrival of the monsoon. Although conditions should improve when the monsoon arrives in Pakistan early next month, managing regular water discharge will be challenging for authorities without water flow data from India, following the Indus Waters Treaty's suspension. Given India's decision to suspend the 1960 treaty after the Pahalgam terror attack in April, they are not required to share this data with Pakistan under current circumstances. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. 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Indian Express
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Has the Indus Waters Treaty been fair to India, and what is the way forward: An Expert Explains
Earlier this month, Pakistan signalled to India that it was willing to discuss the Indus Waters Treaty, which New Delhi had put in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack of April 22. While the treaty came under renewed focus after Pahalgam — with Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating that 'blood and water cannot flow together' — India had issued a notice to Pakistan to renegotiate its terms back in January 2023. The Indus treaty has endured for almost 65 years, sharing the waters of the Indus river system — the 'Eastern Rivers', namely Sutlej, Beas and Ravi, for India, and the 'Western Rivers' of Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab for Pakistan. Sections in both India and Pakistan have claimed the treaty is unfair to their country and too generous to the other. When it was signed, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had termed it the 'price of peace for Pakistan'. Now, there are calls within India to scrap it entirely, while Pakistan has claimed that any disruption to its water supply will be treated as 'an act of war'. However, amid all the clamour, much about the treaty remains little-understood, to its supporters and detractors alike. Uttam Kumar Sinha, Senior Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses breaks down the terms of the treaty, and what keeping it 'in abeyance' means. The Indus Waters Treaty was a product of the context in which it was signed. A lot has changed since then, not just politically, but hydro-geomorphologically and in terms of population growth and irrigation use. In all fairness, the treaty needs to be renegotiated keeping the current realities in mind. Under the treaty, Pakistan got a higher volume of water. The average annual flow of water in the 'western rivers' (135.6 million acre feet) is more than four times that of the eastern rivers (32.6 maf). But two things are important to note here. India needed the exclusive use of the waters of the eastern rivers, which the treaty secured for us. India has since built dams and other water projects on these rivers, including the Bhakra Nangal dam and the Rajasthan canal project now called the Indira Gandhi Canal, which have helped irrigate Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. In return, Pakistan got a much larger portion of the flow of water from the three western rivers but India was entitled to certain use on these rivers such as domestic use, non-consumptive use, agriculture use and generation of hydro-electric power. This we have not fully utilised. Also, India has the right to create water storage capacity of up to 3.6 million acre-feet (MAF) on the western rivers. A capacity of only about .7 MAF on Salal and Baglihar dams havebeen achieved. With the Pakaldul dam nearing completition, the storage capacity is set to inch up to .8 maf. It helps to remember that the treaty was negotiated by civil engineers and not politicians and diplomats. So it took a pragmatic and utilitarian view of the Indus Basin. The system of rivers was apportioned or divided into eastern and western rivers and not volumetric allocations. If it was based on volumes, it would have required negotiating six separate agreements, a task that would have never been accomplished. Contrary to what sections in Pakistan have accused India of, keeping the treaty in abeyance does not mean blocking water to Pakistan. It means India will focus on the provision of the treaty on the western rivers and optimise it. India does not have the storage capacity to prevent water from flowing into Pakistan. But it can carry out 'sediment flushing operation' from the existing dams. There is a strategic intent as well. Suspending the treaty sends a strong signal to Pakistan that business as usual is not possible. So far, India has been a very responsible upper riparian state [region located upstream of a river], and all the hydro-power projects it has initiated have gone through the due process mentioned in the treaty. Now, New Delhi is making it clear that new terms are needed if the treaty has to go ahead. When the treaty is renegotiated, what changes should India ask for? Two things are very important. One is the grievance redressal mechanism in the treaty. Article IX of the treaty lays down a graded three-level mechanism, in which disputes are first taken up at the level of the Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan, then escalated to the World Bank-appointed Neutral Expert, and finally to the International Court of Arbitration (CoA) in The Hague. For long, Pakistan has used this three-level mechanism to delay dams and hydro-electric projects by India. Pakistan has repeatedly misused Article IX of the treaty to stall Indian projects—objecting to the Salal Dam, dragging Baglihar to a Neutral Expert, halting the Tulbul navigation project since 1987, and forcing the Kishanganga project to arbitration, where India ultimately prevailed but faced imposed restrictions. Just like India has maintained that all its issues with Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally, the Indus treaty too should have a bilateral dispute resolution mechanism. Pakistan always seeks international arbitration. I mentioned earlier that the treaty was negotiated by civil engineers. In its earliest hearings, India sent eight engineers. Pakistan sent two engineers and 176 lawyers. The attempt from Islamabad has been to internationalise the issue and paint India as misusing its upper riparian position. The revised treaty should have provisions against this. The second thing is that the treaty is very prescriptive about what India can or cannot do when building dams. Since then, dam-building technology has progressed a lot. India should renegotiate and incorporate these elements into the treaty. The Indus originates in Tibet. Should India be concerned about China's interference while it resolves the river issue with Pakistan? According to satellite imagery and other available information, China is, as of now, not building dams on Indus. Unlike Pakistan, which is among the worst water managers in the world, China is a highly skilled dam-builder. A dam on the Indus only to spite India, when it does not serve domestic purposes, is possibly not on the cards for Beijing. However, India is a lower riparian state with China on the Brahmaputra too, where it is planning to build a 'super dam', and about which New Delhi has raised concerns. But this is a problem that New Delhi is well aware of. To address water-related tensions with Beijing, India must strengthen its capabilities on the Brahmaputra while forging strategic lower-riparian partnerships with Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh to present a unified front in engaging China on transboundary water concerns. A task made all the more challenging by the fragile and shifting dynamics in the neighbourhood. Yashee is an Assistant Editor with the where she is a member of the Explained team. She is a journalist with over 10 years of experience, starting her career with the Mumbai edition of Hindustan Times. She has also worked with India Today, where she wrote opinion and analysis pieces for DailyO. Her articles break down complex issues for readers with context and insight. Yashee has a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from Presidency College, Kolkata, and a postgraduate diploma in journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, one of the premier media institutes in the countr ... Read More
