Geneva, Sep 16 (NVI) The 66-year-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan is outdated and needs to be reassessed from the perspective of contemporary needs and human rights aspects, an Indian NGO has said at a UN convention.
The NGO Shivi Development Society argued that the water-security conditions in the region have changed since the time of the signing of the IWT under which right over the usage of 6 common rivers between India and Pakistan is determined.
Under the Treaty, India has rights over usage of waters of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers while Pakistan gets the rights over Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, all flowing from Jammu and Kashmir.
At the 63rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, the Delhi-based NGO said access to water is closely linked to the rights to life, health, food, housing, dignity and development.
Referring to the UN recognition of access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, the NGO said international water treaties should be implemented in a manner that strengthens, rather than constrains, states’ ability to meet their human-rights obligations.
It said the Indus Waters Treaty, despite being an important example of long-standing international cooperation, was signed more than six decades ago and the region’s water-security environment has since changed significantly.
It cited population growth, climate change, glacier retreat, groundwater depletion and increasingly unpredictable river flows as factors that have transformed water-security challenges in the region.
The statement argued that contemporary treaty implementation should not prevent states from fulfilling their obligations towards communities under their jurisdiction.
It said ensuring water security for communities should remain a fundamental priority and described a review of the Indus Waters Treaty as an imperative, referring also to its present abeyance.
The NGO concluded that human rights and international cooperation are complementary and that trans-boundary water governance should place people, dignity and fundamental rights at the centre.
After heinous Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 last year, India placed the IWT in “abeyance” until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
Pakistan approached the International Court of Arbitration, which last month issued an award on the “Status” of the Indus Waters Treaty and an order on interim measures concerning the Ratle Hydro-Electric Plant (RHEP).
The court said that India must observe its obligations under the Treaty, including those relating to the design and operation of its hydro-electric projects on the Western Rivers.
On August 31, India rejected the “award”, saying it was issued by an “illegally constituted” Court of Arbitration (CoA).
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the so-called “Court of Arbitration” was set up by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the treaty.
“Today, the illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration (CoA) has issued what it termed as an award concerning Interim Measures and Status of the Indus Waters Treaty. This so called Court was constituted by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the Treaty and India categorically rejects its so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements by this illegally constituted body,” the MEA said in a statement.
The MEA stressed that India has never recognised the existence in law of “the illegally-constituted and so-called Court of Arbitration” and consistently maintained that the creation of this alleged arbitral body constitutes a grave violation of the IWT.
“Accordingly, India has never appeared before this body and has refused to take any cognisance of its earlier pronouncements. This so-called Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on India’s sovereign decisions. Its pronouncements, now or in the future, will have no effect on India’s actions in connection with the projects being undertaken by India,” the MEA mentioned.
The MEA also stated that India’s decision to hold the IWT in abeyance remains in force. (NVI)
