Latest news with #waterSharing
Arab News
6 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan welcomes World Bank stance on Indus Waters Treaty amid India suspension row
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday welcomed the World Bank's position against India's unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), describing it as 'principled support' for Pakistan during a meeting with the Bank's regional vice president, Ousmane Dione, who is currently visiting the country. The IWT, brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, governs water sharing between India and Pakistan. Earlier this year, New Delhi announced it was placing the treaty 'in abeyance' following a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. Indian authorities blamed the attack on Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied while calling for a transparent and impartial international investigation. The incident also triggered a four-day military standoff between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, which ended with a US-brokered ceasefire on May 10. 'The Prime Minister appreciated the World Bank's principled support for Pakistan's legitimate position in light of India's unilateral and illegal actions to undermine a key international agreement like the Indus Waters Treaty,' said a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office after Sharif's meeting with Dione. 'He reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to international law, the pursuit of prosperity, and the maintenance of regional peace, and expressed his resolve to address all issues through dialogue,' it added. The World Bank's stance aligns with comments made by its president, Ajay Banga, in May, when he clarified that the IWT contains no provision for unilateral suspension or withdrawal, and that any changes to the agreement must be made mutually by both India and Pakistan. Banga also noted the Bank's role in the treaty is strictly administrative, to appoint dispute-resolution experts and manage a trust fund when required, adding the institution has no authority to intervene in political decisions by either country. During their meeting, Sharif and Dione discussed ongoing development cooperation, including the World Bank's Country Partnership Framework (CPF), a strategic roadmap for investments in energy, education, governance reforms, and climate resilience. The prime minister also thanked the Bank for its 'swift and generous assistance' during Pakistan's 2022 floods, which killed over 1,700 people, displaced millions and devastated agricultural land and public infrastructure. Dione, the Bank's regional vice president for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP), reaffirmed his institution's commitment to deepening its engagement with Pakistan. He praised the country's ongoing macroeconomic stabilization efforts and expressed confidence in the current administration's reform agenda aimed at restoring investor confidence and promoting inclusive, sustainable growth.
Bloomberg
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
India Won't Restore Water-Sharing Pact With Pakistan, Shah Says
India's home minister has ruled out restoring a water-sharing pact with Pakistan, according to the Times of India newspaper, signaling a rapprochement was out of the question despite the neighbors reaching a military truce. 'No, it will never be restored,' Amit Shah told the newspaper in an interview published on Saturday. 'International treaties cannot be annulled unilaterally, but we have the right to put it in abeyance, which we have done.'
Bloomberg
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
India Won't Restore Water-Sharing Pact With Pakistan, TOI Says
India's home minister has ruled out restoring a water-sharing pact with Pakistan, according to the Times of India newspaper, signaling a rapprochement was out of the question despite the neighbors reaching a military truce. 'No, it will never be restored,' the newspaper reported on Saturday, citing minister Amit Shah as saying in an interview. 'International treaties cannot be annulled unilaterally, but we have the right to put it in abeyance, which we have done.'
Arab News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan says open to water talks with India but insists Indus treaty remains binding
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is willing to discuss water-sharing concerns with India, the country's top legal official said on Thursday, though he maintained the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty remained legally binding on both countries and could not be unilaterally suspended. Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan shared his country's perspective with Reuters over the issue in an exclusive interview after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reiterated his threat to block water flows to Pakistan. India has said it would suspend the treaty as part of a series of measures following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan denies the allegation and says any attempt to disrupt water access would be a breach of international obligations with severe consequences. 'Pakistan is willing to talk about or to address anything, any concerns they [the Indians] may have,' Awan said during the interview. He said India had written to Pakistan in recent weeks, citing population growth and clean energy needs as reasons to modify the treaty. But he said any discussions would have to take part under the terms of the treaty. Islamabad maintains the treaty is legally binding and no party can unilaterally suspend it, Awan said. 'As far as Pakistan is concerned, the treaty is very much operational, functional, and anything which India does, it does at its own cost and peril as far as the building of any hydroelectric power projects are concerned,' he added. Modi on Thursday ramped up pressure during a public event in Rajasthan, a state bordering Pakistan, saying: 'Pakistan will not get water from rivers over which India has rights.' 'Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for every terrorist attack … Pakistan's army will pay it. Pakistan's economy will pay it,' he added, referencing the April 22 attack that left 26 people dead. The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, allocates water from six rivers shared by the two countries. It guarantees Pakistan access to waters that irrigate nearly 80 percent of its farmland. Awan said Pakistan would oppose any attempts to alter the treaty outside of its legal framework. The nuclear-armed neighbors had earlier engaged in their most intense military confrontation in decades before agreeing to a US-brokered ceasefire on May 10. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, which both claim in full but administer in part. India accuses Pakistan of supporting Kashmiri separatists in the disputed region, a charge Pakistan denies. Tensions further escalated on Wednesday between the two countries when a suicide bombing targeted a school bus in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, killing six people, including four children. Pakistan's government and military accused 'Indian terror proxies' of orchestrating the attack, an allegation India rejected. In the fallout from the April attack, both countries have halted trade, closed borders and suspended most visa processing, deepening diplomatic and economic strains.
