Saturday, March 06, 2010

India is adhering to the Indus Water Treaty

Tariq Tufail on Changing Up Pakistan (CHUP!).
Even our Indus water commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah and ex-finance minister, Dr. Mubashar Hasan agree that no provable water theft is being committed by India.

Therefore, the inescapable conclusion is that India is not violating the “letter” of the treaty, even if it may be maximizing its usage as accorded to India by the treaty.
Official and Media Pakistan has been raising noise about the Indus Water Treaty with India. So this conclusion—by Pakistanis— is important.

PS:
Early last month, Pakistan's army chief, General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, outlined a rather different vision. In a presentation to the media, he asserted that the Pakistan army was an “India-centric institution,” adding this “reality will not change in any significant way until the Kashmir issue and water disputes are resolved.” His words were not dissimilar in substance from the language used by jihadists such as Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed in recent speeches. — Praveen Swami in The Hindu
Notice how another issue - water disputes - is being added to make the Pakistani military indispensable, even when there is no basis for a dispute.

PPS: Hafiz Saeed, e.g., here
“Look at India’s attitude, especially after the 9/11 attacks. It has taken advantage of Pakistan’s weaknesses and made dams and stopped our water. Pakistan, for its defence, will have to fight a war at all costs with India if it is not prepared for talks on Kashmir and water,” Saeed said in an interview to Frontline, a private TV channel.
or this, by Abdur Rehman Makki, Saaed's deputy:
He warned that jihadis were ready to fill the Ravi river with “blood on the water” to avenge what he alleged was India’s denial of river waters to Pakistan.

“Kashmir had become a cold issue. But by denying Pakistan water, India has ensured that every farmer in Punjab is lining up with his tractor and plough, ready to overrun India".

At one time, jihadis were interested only in the liberation of Kashmir, but the water issue had ensured that “Delhi, Pune and Kanpur” were all fair targets, he said. {This a few days before the Feb 13 Pune blasts.}