Not a drop of water to Pakistan, says Jal Shakti Minister as Govt explores 3 options on Indus waters

The officials, it is learnt, made a presentation, drawing attention to options that could be exercised in the short term, medium term and long term to utilise the waters of the Indus basin rivers.

The government is exploring all legal and technical aspects of possible measures, including diversion of water, that can be taken in the near future.

While there was no official statement after the meeting, Patil, in a post in Hindi on X, said, “The historic decision taken by the Modi government on the Indus Water Treaty is completely justified and in the national interest. We will ensure that not even a drop of water from the Indus river goes to Pakistan.”

The IWT was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960, following nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan. According to provisions of the Treaty, all the water of the “Eastern Rivers” of the Indus system – Sutlej, Beas and Ravi – would be available for the “unrestricted use” of India. Pakistan would receive water from the “Western Rivers” – Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.

The decision to suspend the IWT gives Delhi more options on how to use the waters of the Indus river system.

On Wednesday, a day after the Pahalgam attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decided to keep the IWT in abeyance. On Thursday, India formally informed Pakistan that it was pausing the IWT with immediate effect.

News agency PTI adds from Islamabad: The Pakistan government decided Friday to halt the contentious canals project after India decided to suspend the IWT.

Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir and Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had inaugurated the ambitious Cholistan project in February to irrigate the desert region in the Pakistan Punjab province.

However, it created an uproar in Sindh province where different political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is part of the ruling coalition at the Centre with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), began protesting against the project.

At the height of the tension between the two parties, India announced suspension of the IWT, prompting Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to meet PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and they agreed to stop the canal project.

They also agreed that the project will remain suspended until a consensus on the issue could be reached in the Council of Common Interests (CCI), a high powered inter-provincial body to tackle controversies between provinces.

The Dawn reported that addressing a press conference with Bilawal, Sharif said the two sides considered the country’s situation in detail and India’s announcements related to the rivers.

“Today, we decided in the meeting between the PPP and PML-N with mutual agreement that until a decision is reached with mutual consensus in the CCI, no further canal will be constructed and the federal government has decided that there will be no further progress on canals without the consensus of opinion among provinces,” he said.