Water belonging to India cant go to Pakistan: Modi
PTI
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday the waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers that rightfully belong to India will be stopped from going waste in Pakistan and he will ensure that farmers in India are able to utilise it, reports PTI from Bhatinda, India. Indus Water Treaty- Sutlej, Beas, Ravi - the waters in these rivers belong to India and our farmers. It is not being used in the fields of Pakistan but flowing into the sea through Pakistan. Now every drop of this water will be stopped and I will give that to farmers of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir and Indian farmers. I am committed to this, he said at a rally in Bathinda. He said a task force has been constituted to ensure that each drop of water that flows out of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi reaches Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
There is no reason that we cannot use our rights (over our waters) and let our farmers suffer, he said, adding, I need your blessings in order to fulfill your requirements for watering your fields. The solution for the problems of water could be found out through common dialogue, he said.
Criticising the previous governments at the Centre, Modi said, Waters kept flowing to Pakistan, but successive governments kept sleeping on this issue and my farmer kept crying for the want of water.
If Punjab farmers get sufficient amount of water, they could produce gold from the soil and could fill the coffers of the country, he said.
Our government is committed to work in tandem with the Badal government in Punjab to get farmers their rights and address their concerns, he said.
A Dawn report adds: The 1960 World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan is considered one of the great success stories of water diplomacy, especially as it has survived the India-Pakistan wars of 1965, 1971, 1999 and much bad blood during and after the wars.
Under the treaty, which was signed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ayub Khan in Sept 1960, water of six rivers Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum are to be shared between the two countries. Pakistan has said revocation of the Indus Waters Treaty can be taken as a hostile act against Pakistan.
Tension between the two countries is again at a peak following an alleged Indian surgical strike, unrest in Kashmir and the Uri army base attack in September.
Since then there have been repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing in Kashmir, with both sides reporting deaths and injuries including of civilians.
The Indian premiers fresh statements come just days after Indian troops targeted a passenger bus and ambulance across the Line of Control, and killed three Pakistan Army soldiers and 10 civilians in various incidents of unprovoked firing.
Modi stepped up a drive to isolate Pakistan diplomatically after the Uri army base attack in September in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed. Hours after the attack occurred, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed Pakistan a terrorist state and accused Pakistan of involvement.
Shortly after, India decided to suspend Indus Water Commission talks until Pakistan-sponsored terror in India ended. The Uri attack occurred days before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was set to address the United Nations General Assembly regarding Indian human rights violations in held Kashmir. Following the attack, India claimed it had conducted a cross-border surgical strike against launch pads of terror in Azad Jammu and Kashmir a claim Pakistan has strongly rejected. Pakistan maintains that India is attempting to divert the worlds attention away from atrocities committed by government forces in India-held Kashmir. Pakistan and India have, most recently, locked horns over Kashmir since Indian forces stepped up a crackdown against protesters after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by government forces in July.
