Latest news with #WorldBank-brokered
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - India and Pakistan's ‘water and blood' wars could spark global catastrophe
'Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India,' said India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvathaneni Harish, last Friday, referring to the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. India suspended the World Bank-brokered agreement the day after gunmen killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists at Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan also claims Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi blames Islamabad for harboring militants who staged the April 22 attack, as Harish noted in his remarks at a U.N. Security Council Arria-formula meeting titled 'Protecting Water in Armed Conflict — Protecting Civilian Lives.' Pakistan has denied responsibility. By India's count, Pakistani terror attacks have taken more than 20,000 Indian lives in the past four decades. 'It is against this backdrop that India has finally announced that the treaty will be in abeyance until Pakistan, which is a global epicenter of terror, credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism,' Harish announced. 'It is clear that it is Pakistan which remains in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.' India's action is the first-ever suspension of the pact. The treaty, 'a rare beacon of cooperation between India and Pakistan,' allocates waters in the Indus basin. India got control of the eastern rivers of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Pakistan controls western rivers, the Chenab, the Indus and Jhelum. The treaty is generous to Pakistan, allocating to it about 70 percent of the total water carried by the Indus River System. Water stoppages pose a dire threat to Pakistan. Rivers covered by the treaty provide almost 80 percent of its water for drinking and irrigation. 'Water is a vital national interest of Pakistan, a lifeline for its 240 million people and its availability will be safeguarded at all costs,' a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson said on April 25. 'Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an act of war and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power,' the Pakistani spokesperson continued. 'Complete spectrum of national power' is a significant phrase, given that Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state. Nuclear war is always on the menu. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 against known terrorist sites in Pakistan, and for four days the two nuclear-armed powers hit each other with air, drone and missile strikes. After India targeted the Nur Khan and Mushaf airbases, both close to Pakistan's nuclear weapons installations, an alarmed Trump administration intervened and brokered a ceasefire. Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, told CNN on May 12 that the cease-fire could fall apart 'if the water issue is not resolved.' India currently does not have the ability to deny water to Pakistan, because its upstream dams have only limited storage capacity. The most New Delhi can do with the current infrastructure is affect the timing of water flows to Pakistan. New Delhi's goal is to prevent any water from leaving India, however, and the country is planning to improve its system of dams so that they do not have to release water into Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained a hardline stance. 'Water and blood cannot flow together,' Modi has said. 'Terror and talks cannot happen at the same time. Terror and trade cannot happen simultaneously.' Most analysts believe that Pakistan's forces got the better of India in the four days of fighting. Whether that is true or not, Pakistan's army came out ahead at home. 'Rather than deterring its rival, India precipitated a retaliation that ended up burnishing the Pakistani military's reputation and boosting its domestic popularity,' wrote Georgetown University's Aqil Shah in Foreign Affairs. So expect more hostilities. Shah's piece is titled 'The Next War Between India and Pakistan.' There will be one for sure. Operation Sindoor, Modi said, had 'drawn a new line under the fight against terrorism.' 'This is a new phase, a new normal. If there is a terror attack on India, we will give a jaw-breaking response.' Modi has recently said that Operation Sindoor has not yet ended. The conflict could spread to include another nuclear weapons state. Beijing, for instance, could intervene by blocking water flows into India. The headwaters of the Indus are in China. So are the headwaters of the Brahmaputra. 'This could well overshadow any previous, containable conflict between India and Pakistan,' writes Gregory Copley, the president of the International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of Defense and Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, on the next war. 'It could be the big one.' Gordon G. Chang is the author of 'Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America' and 'The Coming Collapse of China.'. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
India and Pakistan's ‘water and blood' wars could spark global catastrophe
'Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India,' said India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvathaneni Harish, last Friday, referring to the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. India suspended the World Bank-brokered agreement the day after gunmen killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists at Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan also claims Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi blames Islamabad for harboring militants who staged the April 22 attack, as Harish noted in his remarks at a U.N. Security Council Arria-formula meeting titled 'Protecting Water in Armed Conflict — Protecting Civilian Lives.' Pakistan has denied responsibility. By India's count, Pakistani terror attacks have taken more than 20,000 Indian lives in the past four decades. 'It is against this backdrop that India has finally announced that the treaty will be in abeyance until Pakistan, which is a global epicenter of terror, credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism,' Harish announced. 'It is clear that it is Pakistan which remains in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.' India's action is the first-ever suspension of the pact. The treaty, 'a rare beacon of cooperation between India and Pakistan,' allocates waters in the Indus basin. India got control of the eastern rivers of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Pakistan controls western rivers, the Chenab, the Indus and Jhelum. The treaty is generous to Pakistan, allocating to it about 70 percent of the total water carried by the Indus River System. Water stoppages pose a dire threat to Pakistan. Rivers covered by the treaty provide almost 80 percent of its water for drinking and irrigation. 'Water is a vital national interest of Pakistan, a lifeline for its 240 million people and its availability will be safeguarded at all costs,' a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson said on April 25. 'Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus Waters Treaty, and the usurpation of the rights of lower riparian will be considered as an act of war and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power,' the Pakistani spokesperson continued. 'Complete spectrum of national power' is a significant phrase, given that Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state. Nuclear war is always on the menu. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 against known terrorist sites in Pakistan, and for four days the two nuclear-armed powers hit each other with air, drone and missile strikes. After India targeted the Nur Khan and Mushaf airbases, both close to Pakistan's nuclear weapons installations, an alarmed Trump administration intervened and brokered a ceasefire. Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, told CNN on May 12 that the cease-fire could fall apart 'if the water issue is not resolved.' India currently does not have the ability to deny water to Pakistan, because its upstream dams have only limited storage capacity. The most New Delhi can do with the current infrastructure is affect the timing of water flows to Pakistan. New Delhi's goal is to prevent any water from leaving India, however, and the country is planning to improve its system of dams so that they do not have to release water into Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained a hardline stance. 'Water and blood cannot flow together,' Modi has said. 'Terror and talks cannot happen at the same time. Terror and trade cannot happen simultaneously.' Most analysts believe that Pakistan's forces got the better of India in the four days of fighting. Whether that is true or not, Pakistan's army came out ahead at home. 'Rather than deterring its rival, India precipitated a retaliation that ended up burnishing the Pakistani military's reputation and boosting its domestic popularity,' wrote Georgetown University's Aqil Shah in Foreign Affairs. So expect more hostilities. Shah's piece is titled 'The Next War Between India and Pakistan.' There will be one for sure. Operation Sindoor, Modi said, had 'drawn a new line under the fight against terrorism.' 'This is a new phase, a new normal. If there is a terror attack on India, we will give a jaw-breaking response.' Modi has recently said that Operation Sindoor has not yet ended. The conflict could spread to include another nuclear weapons state. Beijing, for instance, could intervene by blocking water flows into India. The headwaters of the Indus are in China. So are the headwaters of the Brahmaputra. 'This could well overshadow any previous, containable conflict between India and Pakistan,' writes Gregory Copley, the president of the International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of Defense and Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, on the next war. 'It could be the big one.' Gordon G. Chang is the author of 'Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America' and 'The Coming Collapse of China.'.
Express Tribune
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Express Tribune
WAPDA issuesinflow, outflow data for water reservoirs
A destitute couple braves the polluted waters of Nullah Leh in Rawalpindi, searching for discarded items to salvage in Dhok Ratta, Rawalpindi. PHOTO: AGHA MAHROZ/EXPRESS The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has issued inflow and outflow data of water in rivers and water reservoirs. According to statistics issued by Wapda, the water inflow at Tarbela Dam in Indus River was recorded at 1,76,600 cusec and outflow at 1,26,900 cusec, while the water inflow and outflow at Nowshera in Kabul River was registered at 43,000 cusec and 43,000 cusec. Likewise, water inflow and outflow at Khairabad Bridge stood at 1,36,900 cusec and 1,36,900 cusec; inflow and outflow at Mangla in Jhelum River, 43,300 cusec and 18,000 cusec; inflow and outflow at Marala in Chenab, 46,100 cusec and 20,400 cusec. The minimum operating level of Tarbela Dam was recorded at 1402 feet, current level of water in the reservoir at 1473.21 feet, and the maximum level of water storage at 1,550 feet. Similarly, the minimum operating level of Mangla was recoded at 1050 feet, current level of water in the reservior at 1154.90 feet, and the maximum level of water storage at 1,242 feet. In addition, the minimum operating level of Chashma Barrage was recorded as 638.15 feet, current level of water in the reservoir at 644.40 feet, and the maximum level of water storage at 649 feet. The recent escalation between Pakistan and India has brought the water reservoirs into limelight as India threatened to suspend the World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty unilaterally.
Hans India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Must defuse the water bomb hanging over us: Pak Senator
Islamabad: Asserting that the country is staring down the barrel of a major water crisis, yet another Pakistani politician on Friday made a desperate appeal to the Shehbaz Sharif government to 'defuse' the 'water bomb' that is hanging over the country after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack which resulted in the death of 26 innocent civilians. 'We would die of hunger if we don't resolve the water crisis now. The Indus Basin is our lifeline as three-fourths of our water comes from outside the country, nine out of 10 people depend on the Indus water basin for their living, as much as 90 per cent of our crops rely on this water and all our power projects and dams are built on it. This is like a water bomb hanging over us and we must defuse it,' Pakistan Senator Syed Ali Zafar said in his speech during a Senate Session on Friday. The Indus Water Treaty, which was signed in 1960, governs the sharing of the waters of six rivers — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — between India and Pakistan. A rattled Islamabad has been urging New Delhi to reconsider its decision of putting IWT into abeyance with the National Security Committee (NSC) of Pakistan and country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar making threatening and baseless statements over the past few weeks. However, invoking its national security prerogative, India has made it clear that the treaty will remain in abeyance until Islamabad 'credibly and irrevocably' ends its support for cross-border terrorism. The move was endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the apex decision-making body on strategic affairs, immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack, marking the first time New Delhi has hit pause on the World Bank-brokered agreement. As India launched Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly underlined the government's uncompromising position that 'water and blood cannot flow together' and 'terror and talks cannot happen at the same time'. 'I would also like to underline that any bilateral discussion on Jammu and Kashmir will only be on the vacation of illegally-occupied Indian territory by Pakistan. On the question of the Indus Waters Treaty, I am again repeating myself, it will remain in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. As our Prime Minister has said, water and blood cannot flow together, trade and terror also cannot go together,' Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday. On the same day, Prime Minister Modi reiterated India's firm stance against terrorism, saying there would be no talks or trade with Islamabad unless it relinquishes its illegal occupation of Kashmir. 'If there is to be any talk, it will be on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). If Pakistan continues to export terrorists, it will be left begging for every penny. It will not get a single drop of Indian water,' he said while addressing a massive public rally in Rajasthan's Bikaner on Thursday.
Hans India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
We would die of hunger, must defuse water bomb hanging over us: Pak Senator
Islamabad: Asserting that the country is staring down the barrel of a major water crisis, yet another Pakistani politician on Friday made a desperate appeal to the Shehbaz Sharif government to "defuse" the "water bomb" that is hanging over the country after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack which resulted in the death of 26 innocent civilians. "We would die of hunger if we don't resolve the water crisis now. The Indus Basin is our lifeline as three-fourths of our water comes from outside the country, nine out of 10 people depend on the Indus water basin for their living, as much as 90 per cent of our crops rely on this water and all our power projects and dams are built on it. This is like a water bomb hanging over us and we must defuse it," Pakistan Senator Syed Ali Zafar said in his speech during a Senate Session on Friday. The Indus Water Treaty, which was signed in 1960, governs the sharing of the waters of six rivers — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — between India and Pakistan. A rattled Islamabad has been urging New Delhi to reconsider its decision of putting IWT into abeyance with the National Security Committee (NSC) of Pakistan and country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar making threatening and baseless statements over the past few weeks. However, invoking its national security prerogative, India has made it clear that the treaty will remain in abeyance until Islamabad "credibly and irrevocably" ends its support for cross-border terrorism. The move was endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the apex decision-making body on strategic affairs, immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack, marking the first time New Delhi has hit pause on the World Bank-brokered agreement. As India launched Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly underlined the government's uncompromising position that "water and blood cannot flow together" and "terror and talks cannot happen at the same time". "I would also like to underline that any bilateral discussion on Jammu and Kashmir will only be on the vacation of illegally-occupied Indian territory by Pakistan. On the question of the Indus Waters Treaty, I am again repeating myself, it will remain in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. As our Prime Minister has said, water and blood cannot flow together, trade and terror also cannot go together," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday. On the same day, Prime Minister Modi reiterated India's firm stance against terrorism, saying there would be no talks or trade with Islamabad unless it relinquishes its illegal occupation of Kashmir. "If there is to be any talk, it will be on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). If Pakistan continues to export terrorists, it will be left begging for every penny. It will not get a single drop of Indian water," he said while addressing a massive public rally in Rajasthan's Bikaner on Thursday. PM Modi also made it clear that "playing with the blood of Indians will cost Pakistan dearly".
