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Hans India
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
India Accelerates Kashmir Hydropower Projects Following Indus Waters Treaty Suspension
India is expediting the completion of several major hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir following its suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, a response to the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack. Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to chair a high-level meeting this week with key ministers including Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to discuss acceleration of these projects. The government plans to fast-track six significant hydropower initiatives in the region: the 1,856 MW Sawalkot Project on the Chenab River, 1,000 MW Pakal Dul, 850 MW Ratle, 800 MW Bursar, 624 MW Kiru, and the 1,320 MW Kirthai-I and II projects. With the treaty suspension, India is no longer required to provide Pakistan with a six-month notice before starting new projects and has ceased data sharing. Reports indicate India has already begun increasing reservoir capacity at two hydroelectric projects in Kashmir. The completion of these projects could potentially increase Jammu and Kashmir's power generation capacity to 10,000 MW while significantly improving water availability for irrigation and drinking purposes. Pakistan has warned that any attempt to divert water belonging to them would be considered "an act of war" and threatened international legal action over the treaty suspension.
India Today
06-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
After big Indus Waters Treaty move, India moves to speed-up 6 hydropower projects
Following the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, the central government is set to accelerate the completion of long-pending hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir. A significant meeting in this direction is expected to be chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah this week, along with Jal Shakti (water resources) minister CR Patil, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and key officials from relevant ministries. This meeting follows two prior discussions between Home Minister Amit Shah and Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil regarding the matter. The focus is on fast-tracking six key hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir: Sawalkot Project (1,856 MW) – located on the Chenab River in the Ramban and Udhampur districts. Pakal Dul (1,000 MW) Ratle (850 MW) Bursar (800 MW) Kiru (624 MW) Kirthai-I and II (total 1,320 MW) Previously, the Indus Water Treaty mandated that India provide a six-month notice to Pakistan before commencing any new projects. However, with the treaty now suspended, this requirement is no longer in effect, and data sharing will also cease. This development opens the possibility for India to initiate new projects on the Chenab and Jhelum rivers and to proceed with the revival of Wular Lake, which was previously hindered. The completion of these hydropower projects is projected to boost Jammu and Kashmir's power generation capacity to as much as ten thousand MW. Additionally, it is anticipated to significantly enhance the availability of water for irrigation and drinking purposes in the plains. According to news agency Reuters , India has already begun work to boost reservoir holding capacity at two hydroelectric projects in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which marked the first tangible step by India to operate outside agreements covered by the Indus Waters Treaty. Islamabad had threatened international legal action over the suspension and denied any role in the attack, warning, "Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan ... will be considered as an act of war". Tune In
New Indian Express
30-04-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Rivers that connect and divide
For over six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has been hailed as a triumph of diplomacy and resilience—surviving wars, terrorism, and deep political hostility between India and Pakistan. Brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, the treaty allocated control of the eastern rivers of the Indus system (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan, while permitting limited Indian use of the western rivers for non-consumptive purposes such as hydroelectric generation, navigation and irrigation. The original intent of the treaty was to reduce friction over vital water resources, enabling peaceful coexistence. However, Pakistan was the first to use the treaty less as a means of cooperation, and more as a tool of obstruction and diplomatic warfare. Repeated challenges to India's legitimate hydroelectric projects—such as Kishanganga and Ratle—have been filed at international forums, causing delays, inflating project costs, and undermining India's development agenda, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. Further, Pakistan's simultaneous pursuit of neutral expert intervention and appeals to the Court of Arbitration violated the graded dispute resolution mechanism explicitly outlined in the treaty. Such actions not only breach procedural integrity, but also reveal Islamabad's tactic of leveraging the treaty as a political instrument rather than honoring it as a mechanism for peaceful resolution As the upper riparian, India could have modulated Pakistan's water availability right after 1965 and certainly after the 1971 war, putting economic and political pressure on Islamabad. As a responsible nation taking a humane stance, India did not exercise this option despite the extreme events. However, this stance could not last forever. Based on Pakistan's own patterns of using IWT as a strategic tool, India has increasingly signaled its use of the treaty as a lever to pressure Pakistan to cease cross-border terrorism and other destabilising activities. After the 2016 Uri attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, the Indian leadership and think tanks discussed re-evaluating the IWT. In January 2023, India issued a notice to Pakistan seeking modification of the treaty under Article XII. Post the inhuman targeting of unarmed civilians at Pahalgam, India's move to suspend the IWT is a logical next step in the country's long-term interest. It is aligned with its broader foreign policy doctrine that demands reciprocity in international arrangements. The precipitate action marks an important shift in India's strategic posture: moving from passive tolerance to active rebalancing. India will move to maximise the use of eastern rivers and expedite hydropower projects on the western rivers as part of a strategy to impose indirect, but significant, strategic costs on Pakistan without crossing into open military conflict. The economic and social consequences would be severe for Pakistan. Over 80 percent of Pakistan's irrigated land depends on waters from the Indus system. The economies of Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan's agricultural heartlands, rely almost entirely on the consistent flow of these rivers for crops like wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton. Any disruption would likely precipitate acute food insecurity, a sharp decline in agricultural exports such as basmati rice and mangoes, and energy shortages, given that hydropower constitutes 25-30 percent of Pakistan's electricity generation. The stresses would ripple across Pakistan's economy, exacerbating inflation, widening the current account deficit, and fostering social unrest, particularly in already fragile provinces like Sindh and Balochistan. In short, Pakistan's water, food and energy securities are intricately tied to the continued functioning of the IWT, making Islamabad significantly vulnerable. Should India stay the course, Pakistan would undoubtedly mount a vigorous international response. It could appeal to the World Bank, the treaty's guarantor, or invoke international water norms by approaching the International Court of Justice. Islamabad would likely raise the issue in the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, alleging humanitarian violations, and galvanise diplomatic support from friendly nations such as China and Turkey. A parallel global media campaign could portray India's actions as an aggression against a vulnerable population's right to water. However, while these actions might generate diplomatic noise, they would not easily compel India to reverse course, especially if New Delhi remains within the legal limits of permissible action under the treaty. There is a large scope of actions that India can take to decrease the current water flows, while remaining compliant with the otherwise suspended treaty, India's signaling of potential suspension is not merely an act of retaliation. It reflects a broader assertiveness in India's foreign policy—a willingness to revisit outdated arrangements where strategic asymmetries have grown too wide. While the signal from India is clear, the country will act with a sense of responsibility as a major Asian power that shares other multi-country riparian river systems like the Brahmaputra and the Ganga. India's optimal strategy lies in maximal legal utilisation of its entitlements under the treaty. New Delhi must expedite all permissible run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects, fully use its share of the eastern river waters, build storage structures within treaty limits, and simultaneously engage in proactive diplomacy to frame its actions globally as a rightful rebalancing. The global narrative must be shifted to equity, adaptation to climate realities, and modernisation of a treaty that is outdated, and was misused by Pakistan as strategic leverage. The IWT was a product of its time—an ingenious solution for a newly-partitioned subcontinent facing immense political and humanitarian upheaval. Yet, today's realities—geopolitical, climatic and strategic—demand fresh approaches. India's recent moves, while called aggressive in some quarters, represent a necessary and prudent recalibration driven by imperatives of national security, economic development, and environmental stewardship. Ultimately, the water of the Indus will continue to flow—but whether they will symbolise cooperation or conflict depends on Pakistan's willingness to shed the ghosts of the past, and engage with India in light of the realities of today, for the sake of a better tomorrow. (Views are personal) Davinder Sandhu Co-founder and Chair at Primus Partners; former advisor to World Bank Executive Director for India, and Director, Prime Minister's Office
India Today
29-04-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Battle Cry: Pakistan Panics As India Holds Indus Waters Treaty
8:17 India has announced holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, issuing an ultimatum to Pakistan to stop terrorism. Pakistan is panicking, fearing water scarcity. The move doesn't mean blocking water flow, but cooperation under the treaty is on hold. India retains rights to work on projects like Kishanganga and Ratle. Pakistan's claim of this being an 'act of war' is seen as saber-rattling, as India has repeatedly warned Pakistan since the Uri and Pulwama attacks.
News18
26-04-2025
- Politics
- News18
Post-Indus Treaty Era Begins: How India Plans to Use Kishanganga, Ratle And Pakal Dul As Geostrategic Tools
The combined hydrological effect of these projects gives India a strong geopolitical signaling and strategic calculus to corner Pakistan in the aftermath of Pahalgam Putting the Indus Waters Treaty in cold storage gives India the opportunity to fast-track and leverage its hydroelectric projects like Kishanganga, Ratle and Pakal Dul in Jammu and Kashmir, and not use them just as energy initiatives but also as levers of strategic pressure. Pakistan is clearly rattled, and worried. The Pakistan government has termed the move an 'act of war', while PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto has threatened that 'either our water or their (India's) blood will flow in the Sindhu (Indus)". Top government sources say the psychological impact of India's move is hence already showing, with Pakistan political class under pressure from their population on the impending implication of water flow of western rivers being regulated by India. For a start, India now need not bother about Pakistan's objections on interactional forums to the Kishanganga, Ratle and Pakal Dul hydroelectric projects. The combined hydrological effect of these projects gives India a strong geopolitical signaling and strategic calculus to corner Pakistan. The Pakistan-sponsored terror strike on civilians in Pahalgam has changed the rules of the game with India making Pakistan civilians pay for the misadventures of their Army. India had already diverted water from the Jhelum via a 23 km tunnel through the Kishanganga Project that was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in 2018 in Bandipora. On the same day, Modi laid the foundation stone of the Pakal Dul Power Project, the largest hydro power project in J&K with 1000 MW capacity, and J&K's first storage project. The Pakul Dul at 167 m of height gives India the element of actual control of water, not just usage. It will be ready by mid-2026. The other big bother for Pakistan is the 850 MW Ratle Hydro Electric Project in Jammu & Kashmir, especially since last year when a major milestone has been achieved here with the diversion of Chenab river through diversion tunnels at Drabshalla in Kishtwar district. The river diversion has enabled isolation of dam area at river bed for starting the critical activity of excavation and construction of the dam. India can now proceed with the dam despite Pakistan's design objections related to the spillway height and drawdown levels of the project. Modi government approved the Ratle project in 2021 at Rs 5,282 crore. The last time that India and Pakistan teams had met for annual Indus Water Treaty talks was last year in June when a Pakistani delegation travelled to India and visited Kishtwar to see various dam sites. Pakistan continued to object to the Kishanganga, Ratle and Pakal Dul hydroelectric plants by India, saying that it violates the provisions of the treaty. But the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Pakistan President Ayub Khan in 1960 with the World Bank as a signatory to the pact, is now history.
