India ready to talk. No more concessions, please
In view of the constant dip in relations between India and Pakistan, New Delhi's resolve to get back to the normal course and accept an invitation to attend the scheduled meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), to be held in lahore later this month, may or may not signal the beginning of a thaw in relations between the two countries. But it does signify some sort of forward movement on the contentious issue of water-sharing. This move is welcome as it not only denotes New Delhi's commitment to the five-decade-old 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT), but also speaks volumes about its genuineness to resolve problems, when seen in the background of the aim of this treaty which was forged as a model for dispute management. The PIC, which manages the working of this treaty, consists of expert officials from both India and Pakistan, and acts a middle ground to resolve disputes and issues of both countries. Ever since its inception, it has been meeting twice a year. However, it may be recalled that it was the first time in the history of its formation, in September last year, that India called off the meeting in view of the Uri attack, which killed 19 of its soldiers. This decision also marked a departure from the previous Government's failure to give a befitting reply to Islamabad. Notably, the meeting continued even during the 1965 and the 1971 wars, as well as during the Kargil conflict. The significance of the cancellation of the meeting cannot be missed. It not only cornered Pakistan, but also meant that it was robbed off an opportunity to complain about issues related to the problems it faced.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocated his strong resolve to explore all non-military options to give a fitting reply to Pakistan and said, “Blood and water cannot flow together.” What followed next was the suspension of IWT talks with demands that the meeting was postponed until there was an “atmosphere free of terror”. Additionally, the Centre drew up measures to fully optimise the use of the Indus waters, which until now remained unutilised. The IWT pact has stood the test of times. According to the pact, which was signed between then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistan President Ayub Khan, it was decided that the three eastern rivers (Beas, Ravi, Sutlej) would be allocated to India, while the three western rivers (Indus, Chenab, Jhelum) would be in control of Pakistan — although India was given the rights to use these partially as well for certain purposes. However, ever since the treaty has been on, India failed to optimally utilise the Indus waters. The Government has done well to resume the treaty talk with a firm decision to utilise what is India’s due. Things are not the same as what they were in the 1960s. India was naïve enough then, to give about 80 per cent of the water to Pakistan. Such one-sided goodwill gesture cannot go on. New Delhi must revive the various stalled projects to utilise its waters.