More bad news for Pakistan as India builds two water storage facilities on…, will allow India to control…
After a brutal attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 people including 25 tourists, India has indefinitely suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan. In response, India is now working on two major water storage projects on the Indus River. These projects will allow India to collect and manage the river’s water more effectively. Once these storage facilities are completed, India will be able to control the river’s flow more easily. This move is seen as a step toward ending Pakistan’s long-standing advantage under the treaty. Contrary to popular belief, this decision wasn’t made suddenly. Experts had already indicated earlier that India had been working on this strategy for years.
Benefits for Indian States
According to NDTV, quoting former Indus Commissioner A.K. Bajaj, the upcoming storage projects will help India store water from the Indus River and use it when needed. Following the Pahalgam incident, India has also taken several non-military steps, such as closing the Attari border and canceling visas issued to Pakistani nationals.
The Indian government is also preparing a new framework to revisit the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty. Work has been sped up on two key storage projects—the Pakal Dul project and the Bursar project. Once completed, these projects will allow India to store more water from the Indus and its tributaries. This water can then be diverted to water-scarce states like Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana, helping meet agricultural and domestic needs.
Pakistan faces the heat as India halts Indus Waters Treaty benefits
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, had remained intact despite decades of tension between India and Pakistan. Under the agreement, India was granted full rights to use the waters of the eastern rivers—Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi—totaling about 33 million acre-feet (MAF). Meanwhile, the majority of the water from the western rivers—Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—about 135 MAF, was allocated to Pakistan.
According to A.K. Bajaj, former Indus Commissioner, India began preparing to revisit the treaty nearly two years before formally suspending it. The construction of the Pakal Dul project is progressing rapidly, while the Bursar project is in its final planning stages. These efforts are expected to change the water dynamics in the region significantly.
Pakistan, whose economy relies heavily on agriculture, 85 per cent of which is sustained by the Indus river system has reacted strongly, calling India’s move “an act of war.”
Diplomatic fallout: Pakistan upset over India’s move
Pakistan has responded with strong retaliatory steps. It has threatened to suspend all bilateral agreements with India, including the 1972 Shimla Agreement, which recognizes the Line of Control in Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. In addition, Pakistan has reduced the number of Indian diplomats in its embassy, shut down airspace for Indian flights, blocked traffic at the Wagah border, and asked Indian military advisors in Islamabad to leave the country.
What the treaty allowed and what’s changing
Under the treaty, India has full rights over the eastern rivers, while Pakistan benefits from the western ones. But with new Indian storage projects underway, India will be able to hold more water from the western rivers as well—legally allowed under certain clauses of the treaty. This water can now be used for domestic and agricultural purposes in Indian states like Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
Pakistan sees this shift as a serious threat and is visibly agitated, issuing warnings and retaliatory actions on multiple fronts.
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