Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Friday, referred to the now-suspended Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan as the “most unfair document” for the people of the union territory, observing that it was never popular among them.
India Suspends Indus Water Treaty After Pahalgam Attack
India suspended the World Bank-mediated 1960 treaty of water sharing with Pakistan on Wednesday in reaction to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals.
Omar Abdullah commented on the Centre’s action after meeting with several tourism, trade, and industry associations following reports of a tourist exodus from the union territory.
“The Government of India has taken some steps. As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, let’s be honest, we have never been in favour of the Indus Waters Treaty. Now, what the medium to long-term implications of this are, that is something we have to wait to see,” Abdullah said.
Pakistan Terms Indus Waters Treaty Suspension as Act of War
ANI reported that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a meeting on the Indus Waters Treaty at his residence in the national capital on Friday evening. Union Minister of Jal Shakti, CR Paatil, and other top government officials are likely to attend.
The session follows India formally notifying Pakistan in writing regarding suspension of the treaty. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided this in a meeting on April 23.
Pakistan warned that it would regard any Indian move to suspend water sharing as an “act of war.”
“India’s reckless suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is an act of water warfare; a cowardly, illegal move,” Pakistan’s power minister Awais Lekhari said in a post on X late on Wednesday night.
Facilitated by the World Bank, which is a signatory as well, the treaty establishes a framework for water sharing and data exchange between the two nuclear neighbors on the use of the water of the Indus River and its five tributaries, Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum, and Chenab. The treaty was signed after negotiations for more than nine years following the first war over Kashmir.
