Pakistan has as soon as once more reached out to India, expressing its willingness to deal with New Delhi’s considerations over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which India has stored in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror assault, The Indian Specific has learnt.
As reported by this newspaper on Could 15, Pakistan’s Water Sources Secretary, Syed Ali Murtaza, had earlier responded to India’s formal communication relating to the Union Cupboard’s determination to droop the treaty. In his letter, he supplied to debate the particular provisions of the treaty that India objects to—marking the primary time Islamabad formally indicated a readiness to interact on the treaty’s phrases. That outreach got here even earlier than Operation Sindoor and included instructed dates in Could for holding talks.
Since then, Pakistan is learnt to have written once more to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, renewing its provide for dialogue. Sources stated at the very least two further letters have been acquired from Pakistan following Operation Sindoor.
In response to prime authorities sources, India is presently not fascinated about partaking in talks with Pakistan on the difficulty, and the treaty will proceed to stay in abeyance. The letters, sources stated, have been referred to the Ministry of Exterior Affairs.
Pakistan’s a number of provides to debate India’s objections are important as a result of—regardless of two prior notices from India, in January 2023 and once more in September 2024, in search of a “overview and modification” of the IWT—Islamabad had not explicitly indicated any willingness to interact. It is just after India suspended the treaty with quick impact following the April 22 terror assault in Pahalgam that Pakistan started pushing for talks.
In the meantime, sources stated the federal government has drawn up a plan to assemble a canal to divert water from the Indus river system to varied Indian states. Within the first section, a 130-km stretch is anticipated to be accomplished in simply over two years to hold water from the Beas river to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan. The second section, spanning 70 km, will prolong the canal to the Yamuna river, thereby making water obtainable to Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.
Though the projected timeline for the primary section is three years, senior officers stated it may very well be accomplished in two, with water diversion more likely to start inside two and a half years.
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Sources stated the suspension of water circulation to Pakistan might create challenges throughout the Rabi crop season. “If water stays unavailable for over a month throughout the Rabi season, it might result in crop harm. Consuming water provide can also be affected. Nonetheless, Pakistan’s Kharif crops could not face a lot of a difficulty, as that season coincides with the monsoon,” a senior authorities official stated.
Authorities sources additionally stated that after the monsoon subsides, India plans to scale up flushing and desilting operations at its hydroelectric reservoirs on the Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus rivers to reinforce their storage capability. “These reservoirs want thorough desilting. In some, silt and sediment have hardened into rock. At the very least 5 per cent of the reservoir beds have turned rocky,” an official stated.
As reported by this newspaper final month, the first flushing train at Baglihar and Salal—India’s two run-of-the-river hydroelectric tasks on the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir—was carried out after the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. The operation aimed to clear sediment that had been hindering energy era. This marked the primary such train for the reason that Salal mission was commissioned in 1987 and Baglihar in 2008–09. Beforehand, Pakistan’s repeated objections underneath the treaty had prevented India from enterprise these works. The flushing train, which started in early Could, eliminated simply over 7.5 million cubic metres (MCM) of sediment from the reservoirs of the 690 MW Salal and 900 MW Baglihar tasks.
