NEW DELHI: Pakistan has violated the spirit of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India since the treaty came into effect in 1960, India said at the UN to counter what it described as disinformation being carried out by Pakistan over New Delhi's decision to put the IWT in abeyance.
India had always acted as a responsible upper riparian state, Indian ambassador P Harish said, adding it was Pakistan that had continued to violate the 1960 treaty. He also highlighted several aspects to expose disinformation and explain why India has finally announced that the treaty will be in abeyance "until Pakistan, which is a global epicentre of terror, credibly & irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism". "In the last four decades, over 20,000 Indian lives have been lost in terror attacks," he said.
India: Pak has consistently blocked any changes to infra & provisions
First, Indian ambassador P Harish said, India had entered into the treaty 65-years-ago in good faith and, as the preamble of the treaty says, in spirit of goodwill and friendship. "Throughout these six-and-a-half decades, Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India. Thousands of Indians lost lives in terror attacks, "the most recent of which was the dastardly targeted terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam last month," Harish said, adding that Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism in India sought to hold hostage the lives of civilians, religious harmony and economic prosperity.
Second, Harish said that in these 65 years, far-reaching fundamental changes had taken place not only in terms of escalating security concerns through cross-border attacks, but also growing requirements for producing clean energy, climate change and demographic change. "However, Pakistan has continued to consistently block any changes to this infrastructure, and any modifications of the provisions, which is permissible under the treaty. In fact, in 2012, terrorists even attacked the Tulbul navigation project in J&K," he said.
Third, he cited Pakistan's reluctance to discuss modifications of the treaty on several occasions in past two years. "Pakistan's obstructionist approach continues to prevent the exercise of full utilisation of legitimate rights by India," he added.