Relevance: GS-2 (International Relations) & GS-3 (Internal Security & Environment)  Source: The Indian Express

1. What is the Core Issue?

For over a year, India has kept the historic 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in “abeyance” (temporary suspension) following a major terror attack in Pahalgam.

• The Administrative Stance: By pausing the treaty, India has stopped sharing water data with Pakistan. The government is strictly enforcing a clear message: “blood and water cannot flow together.”
• The Condition: India has stated that normal treaty operations will only resume when Pakistan completely and permanently stops supporting cross-border terrorism.

2. The Treaty Basics

To understand this diplomatic move, an administrator must know how the rivers were geographically divided by the World Bank in 1960:

• The Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej): India has absolute, 100% ownership and rights over the water of these three rivers.
• The Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab): These were allocated to Pakistan. However, India (being the upper state) is allowed to use them for limited, non-consumptive purposes, like running hydroelectric power plants and domestic agriculture.
• The Vulnerability: Pakistan is the “lower riparian” state. It is highly dependent on these rivers, which fulfill over 70% of its massive agricultural irrigation needs.

3. Pakistan’s International Strategy (Mains Focus)

Since Pakistan cannot change the geographical fact that these rivers flow from India, it is trying to build international diplomatic pressure:

• Security Angle (UNSC): Pakistan is trying to frame India’s water suspension as a direct threat to regional peace at the UN Security Council.
• Human Rights Angle (UNHRC): Pakistan is using international NGOs to argue that depriving people of water is a violation of basic human rights.
• Legal Angle (The Hague): Pakistan has dragged India to the Court of Arbitration (CoA), complaining about India’s hydroelectric dam projects on the Western rivers.

4. India’s Two-Pronged Counter-Strategy

India is handling Pakistan’s pressure tactics with a strong, dual approach:

• A. Diplomatic Rejection: India has completely boycotted the Court of Arbitration. New Delhi argues that the 1960 treaty already has a built-in rule to solve disputes using a World Bank-appointed “Neutral Expert.” Therefore, a parallel international court case is legally invalid.
• B. Massive Infrastructure Push: For decades, Pakistan used the treaty’s rules to object to and delay Indian dams. With the treaty suspended, India is now aggressively finishing its long-delayed hydropower and dam projects on the Western rivers. This ensures India legally utilizes its full share of water to boost the economic development of Jammu & Kashmir.

5. Value Addition

Beyond terrorism, India is quietly building an administrative case that this 65-year-old treaty needs a complete renegotiation due to modern challenges:

• Climate Change: The 1960 treaty assumed river flows would always be stable. Today, melting Himalayan glaciers and erratic monsoons make rigid water-sharing formulas impractical.
• Population Boom: The population dependent on these rivers in both countries has exploded since 1960, multiplying the demand for drinking and farming water.
• J&K’s Growth: The old rules strictly limit how much water the people of Jammu and Kashmir can use from their own rivers, unfairly harming their energy and economic aspirations.

UPSC Value Box

• Abeyance: A legal and administrative term meaning a state of temporary suspension or inactivity.
• Riparian State: A country or state situated on the banks of a river. (India is the upper riparian, controlling the source; Pakistan is the lower riparian).
• Run-of-the-River Project: A hydroelectric power station that generates electricity using the natural, flowing water of the river without building a massive, disruptive reservoir to hold back the water.

Q.1. With reference to the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, consider the following statements:

1. The waters of the Eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej) are allocated exclusively to Pakistan for unrestricted use.
2. The treaty allows India limited, non-consumptive use of the Western rivers for hydroelectricity generation.
3. The World Bank is a signatory to the treaty and plays a role in its established dispute resolution mechanism.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (b)