Indus River Agreement: India gives notice to Pakistan

India has given notice to Pakistan about the 'Indus River Treaty' signed 64 years ago. The notice called for a review of several clauses in the agreement.

India recently sent a notice to Pakistan on the Indus River Treaty. The notice calls for a review of several clauses in the agreement. In particular, sub-section 3 of Article 13 of the Treaty called for review.

India has said that several missteps by Pakistan are causing problems in the implementation of the agreement and there is a need to revise the agreement. Pakistan has been given 90 days to discuss the matter.

The longest river in the Indian subcontinent, the Indus originates in the Tibetan Plateau, flows through the Indian Jammu-Kashmir Bong in Pakistan's Kashmir or Azad Kashmir's Gilgit-Baltistan, and flows through the entire southern region of the country to join the Arabian Sea near Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province.

After 9 years of negotiations, the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) was signed by New Delhi-Islamabad on 19 September 1960. The World Bank also signed the agreement as mediator and witness.

The Indian official said, “We have two hydropower plants in Jammu and Kashmir. For this reason we need to review clause 3 of clause 13 of the agreement. We have already contacted the World Bank. The World Bank has also given importance to the agreement of both sides on this issue.”

Incidentally, India-Pakistan diplomatic relations have been at a low point since the 2019 attack by pro-Pakistani militants in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir and the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy by New Delhi a few months later. It has also affected various issues related to the interests of the two countries. Indus River Treaty is a part of them.

Pakistan had earlier proposed an arbitration meeting through the World Bank to review the agreement; But India did not agree to that proposal.