Blood and water cannot flow together: Modi on Indus Treaty

Held amidst heightened tension between the India and Pakistan, the meeting also decided to set up an inter- ministerial task forces to go into the details and working of the Treaty with a “sense of urgency”, senior government sources said. 

Attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, the Water Resources Secretary, and senior PMO officials, the meeting also noted that the meeting of Indus Water Commission can “only take place in atmosphere free of terror”. The Commission has held 112 meetings so far. “Prime Minister’s Modi’s message at the meeting was that ‘rakt aur paani ek saath nahin beh sakta’ (blood and water cannot flow together),” sources said. 

Apart from deciding to exploit to the maximum the capacity of three of the rivers that are under Pakistan’s control - Indus, Chenab and Jhelum-- in the areas of hydro power, irrigation and storage, the meeting also agreed to review the “unilateral suspension” of Tulbul navigation project in 1987. The sources asserted that the decision to maximise the water resources for irrigation will address the “pre-existing” sentiment of people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have complained in the past about the treaty not being fair to them. 

The meeting came as India weighed its options to hit back at Pakistan in the aftermath of the Uri attack that left 18 soldiers dead, triggering demands that the government scrap the water distribution pact to mount pressure on that country. Under the treaty, which was signed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan in September 1960, water of six rivers - Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum - were to be shared between the two countries. Pakistan has been complaining about not receiving enough water and gone for international arbitration in a couple of cases. 

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant an urgent hearing on a PIL seeking declaration of the India-Pakistan Indus Water Treaty as unconstitutional. “There is no urgency in the matter. It will come up for hearing in due course,” a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice AM Khanwilkar said. Advocate M L Sharma, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity on the issue, sought urgent hearing of the matter saying the treaty was unconstitutional as it was not signed as per the constitutional scheme and hence should be declared “void ab initio”.

“Keep politics aside. The matter will come in due course,” the bench said when the lawyer insisted on an urgent hearing.