Islamabad: Days after India served a formal notice to Pakistan seeking a review of the Indus Water Treaty, Islamabad on Thursday said it considers the agreement important and hopes that New Delhi will also comply with its provisions. India on August 30 served a formal notice to Pakistan seeking a review of the 64-year-old agreement, citing “fundamental and unforeseen” changes in the circumstances and impact of persistent cross-border terrorism, government sources in New Delhi said on Wednesday.
India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) on September 19, 1960, after nine years of negotiations with the sole aim of managing cross-border rivers.
India should also comply: Pakistan
Responding to a question on India’s notice, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters here, “Pakistan considers the Indus Water Treaty as an important one and hopes that India will also comply with its provisions.” Baloch pointed out that the two countries have a mechanism of Indus Water Commissioners and all issues about the treaty can be discussed in it. She also said that any measures to address concerns about the treaty must be taken within the agreement’s provisions.
What does Pakistan’s response mean?
Experts opine that the response by the Foreign Office spokesperson shows that Pakistan is not interested in the revision of the agreement that resolved the thorny issue of water sharing between the two countries. IWT is one of the major agreements between India and Pakistan that stood the test of time and has been adhered to despite wars and tensions between the two neighbours.
According to sources in New Delhi, among various concerns of India, the important ones include changes in population demographics, environmental issues and the need to accelerate the development of clean energy to meet India’s emission targets. India also cited the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism as one of the reasons for demanding the review.
India issued a notice to Pakistan
It was the second time in over one-and-half years that India issued a notice to Pakistan seeking modification of the IWT. In January last year, India issued the first notice to Pakistan seeking a review and modification of the treaty following Islamabad’s “intransigence” in handling certain disputes. New Delhi took the significant step months after the World Bank announced appointing a neutral expert and a chair of the Court of Arbitration to resolve the differences over the Kishenganga and Ratle Hydro Electric Projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
The World Bank, being a signatory of the pact, sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two sides on the use of waters of a number of cross-border rivers. India issued the previous notice as it was particularly disappointed over the appointment of the Court of Arbitration. New Delhi considers the start of the two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute a violation of the provision of the graded mechanism prescribed in the pact and wondered what would happen if the mechanisms came out with contradictory judgements.
India has not cooperated with the Court of Arbitration.
(With inputs from agency)
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