PARTICIPANTS

• Mr. Irfan Ahmed Memon

• Mr. Muhammad Shahid Bashir

• Mr. Shoaib Hassan

 TOPIC

INDUS RIVER TREATY

 CONTENT

• Background

• Map of the Indus Rivers System

• The articles of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) 1960

• The current scenario

• Issues and challenges

• Way forward / recommendations

 BACKGROUND OF THE TREATY

• Incomplete partition of the subcontinent

• No distribution of rivers / waters at the time of partition

• Stoppage of water supplies by India on 1 April 1948 (closure of

Ferozpur headworks to Dipalpur)

• Decade long efforts

MAP OF THE INDUS RIVERS
SYSTEM
 ARTICLES OF THE TREATY
• Article – I - Related To definitions

• Article – II - Provides all waters of Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas

and Sutlej) for the unrestrictive use of India

• Article –III - Provides the unrestrictive use of all waters of

Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) to
Pakistan with a few permissions to India i.e:

 Domestic and non consumptive use

 Agriculture

 Hydro power generation

 ARTICLES OF THE TREATY

• Article -IV -Non consumptive use on the part of each party should

not materially change the flow of waters to the

prejudice of the other party

• Article-V -India to pay the cost of irrigation works in Pakistan

previously dependent of Eastern Rivers

• Article-VI – Exchange of data about flow of water and

utilization of waters on regular basis (monthly basis

 ARTICLES OF THE TREATY
• Article -VII- Provide for future cooperation between the two
countries

• Article VIII – Permanent Indus Water Commission comprising

Commissioner for Indus Waters of both the
countries to maintain cooperation / coordination

• Article IX - Settlement of differences and disputes through:

 The Indus Water Commission

 The Neutral Expert

 The Court of Arbitration

 ARTICLES OF THE TREATY

• Article X - Emergency provisions

• Article XI - General provisions

• Article XII - States that:

 The name of the treaty is the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) 1960

 The Treaty to take effect from 01 April 1960

 The Treaty may be modified by the Governments of Pakistan

and India from time to time

 THE CURRENT SCENARIO

• The mounting enmity between the arch rivals

• The new wave of hydro politics and the Indian plan to use water

as weapon e.g :

 56 hydro projects constructed by India on Western Rivers

 171 more hydro projects planned by India upto 2050

• The changing international political and economic scenario

 THE CURRENT SCENARIO

• The unprecedented emerging realities e.g climate change, high

flood risks especially in the Eastern Rivers

• Pakistan’s dependence on external waters is 76 per cent

• Population / economy is heavily dependent on Indus River

System

• The Indus basin accounts for 21 % of GDP and 47 % employment

 ISSUES AND CHALLANGES

• The water scarcity in Pakistan (5600 cubic meter per capita in

1950s dropped down to about 1000 cubic meter recently)

• The hydro hegemonic position of India and the threat of

unilateral abrogation of IWT

• Construction of hydro projects (Baglihar Dam on Chenab,

Kishanganga & Wullar Barrage on Jhelum, & Nimo Bazgoo etc)

further deepened the apprehensions of Pakistan

 ISSUES AND CHALLANGES

• The loopholes / weaknesses inherent in the Indus Water Treaty

e.g:

 The IWT is based on no international law but a political

compromise

 The silence of IWT on many new realities e.g Climate change,

flood risks and utilization of underground water etc.

 The river based treaty instead of water based

 ISSUES AND CHALLANGES

• The permissive articles of the IWT and their exploitation by India

e.g:

 India can use 3.6 MAF from the Western Rivers

 India can build hydro-electric projects on the Western Rivers

with certain restrictions

 India can use waters of Western Rivers for agricultural

 ISSUES AND CHALLANGES

• Lack of commitment on the part of Pakistan.

• The inter provincial conflicts in Pakistan

• Lack of adequate water infrastructure in Pakistan

• The increasing risk of floods in Eastern rivers

• The changing climate resulting into fast melting of glaciers in

HKH
 ISSUES AND CHALLANGES

• The problem of water pollution and the flow of industrial waste

into the rivers

• The debate of Indus II in India

• The dilemma of how to interpret the IWT for Pakistan as a lower

riparian country

• The potential of war over the waters between the two arch rivers
 WAY FORWARD
• Efforts to keep the treaty intact

• Insist on trust building measures e.g:

 exchange of data regarding water flow in the upper catchments

of Indus basin

 Installation of Trans-boundary Telemetry Sys at various

observation stations to provide real time information about the
flow of water.

 Assessment of the impact of hydro electric projects built /

planned by India on the western rivers
 WAY FORWARD
• The proposal of joint venture to assess the impact of climate
change with regard to the pattern of melting glaciers along HKH

• Provision of resources to the Indus Water Commission

• Finalization of water policy of Pakistan

• Enhancing storage capacity of flood waters

• The need for more water reservoirs by building small / medium

size dams

• Persuasion of China to pressurize India by using her upper

riparian status visa viz India .
THANKS