India, Pakistan Hold Talks on Indus Water Treaty | 01 Sep 2018

India has invited Pakistan to visit sites of the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on the Chenab river next month to address Pakistan’s concerns over the construction of hydroelectric projects.

• India and Pakistan concluded the 115th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) in Lahore from August 29-30.
• As per the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, technical discussions were held on implementation of various hydroelectric projects including Pakal Dul (1000 MW) and Lower Kalnai (48 MW) in Jammu and Kashmir.

What is Indus Water Treaty

• It is a treaty brokered by the World Bank and signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s President Ayub Khan which administers how the waters of the Indus and its tributaries that flow in both the countries will be utilised.
• According to the treaty, waters of the eastern rivers — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi had been allocated to India, while the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan. However, since Indus flows from India, the country is allowed to use 20 percent of its water for irrigation, power generation and transport purposes.
• A Permanent Indus Commission was set up as a bilateral commission to implement and manage the Treaty.
• The Treaty also provides arbitration mechanism to solve disputes amicably.

Permanent Indus Commission

• The Permanent Indus Commission is a bilateral commission of officials from India and Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960. 
• The Commission according to the treaty must meet regularly at least once a year, alternately in India and Pakistan.
• The functions of the Commission are:
  • to study and report to the two Governments on any problem relating to the development on the waters of the rivers.
  • to solve disputes arising over water sharing.
  • to arrange technical visits to projects’ sites and critical river head works.
  • to undertake, once in every five years, a general tour of inspection of the Rivers for ascertaining the facts.
  • to take necessary steps for the implementation of the provisions of the treaty.

Issues Associated with Water Sharing

• Pakistan’s demands include reduction of the height of Pakal Dul’s reservoir and it has technical concerns over design of the Lower Kalnai hydropower project.
• There have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty. For eg. In 2010 Pakistan instituted international arbitration proceedings over India’s 330-megawatt hydropower project on a small Indus tributary, the Kishenganga (known as Neelum in Pakistan).
• Pakistan has been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits.
• Though Indus originates from Tibet, China has been kept out of the Treaty. If China decides to stop or change the flow of the river, it will affect both India and Pakistan.
• Climate change is causing melting of ice in Tibetan plateau, which scientists believe will affect the river in future.

Way Forward

• It may be noted that both India and Pakistan are still at loggerheads over various issues since Partition, but there has been no fight over water after the Treaty was ratified.
• If Pakistan wishes to preserve the Indus treaty, despite its diminishing returns for India, it will have to strike a balance between its right to keep utilising the bulk of the river system’s waters and a corresponding obligation (enshrined in international law) not to cause “palpable harm” to its co-riparian state by exporting terror.