India serves notice on Pak, seeks review of Indus Water Treaty

India has issued a formal notice to Pakistan, seeking a review of the Indus Water Treaty, which allocates the waters of six rivers flowing from India to Pakistan.

New Delhi has argued that “fundamental and unforeseen” changes in circumstances necessitate a reassessment of the World Bank-mediated pact, signed by the two countries in 1960. India has also cited the impact of persistent cross-border terrorism as a key reason for demanding the review.

Several small rivulets in the Jammu region swell during the monsoon, making it difficult to erect fences, which in turn facilitates the infiltration of terrorists.

The Indus Water Treaty governs the waters of six rivers. Three of them — the Ravi, Beas, and Satluj — flow through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab into Pakistan. The Satluj originates in Tibet. India is entitled to utilise all waters flowing through these rivers, with large dams diverting water into canals that supply Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, and parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

The treaty assigns the waters of the Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus to Pakistan. India is allowed a share of these waters for agricultural purposes but is restricted from building dams with large reservoirs. The Chenab and Jhelum flow from Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan, while the Indus originates in Tibet and flows through Ladakh into Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan.

India’s notice, issued on August 30, 2024, under Article XII(3) of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), calls on Pakistan to initiate government-to-government negotiations to review the treaty, according to government sources.

The notification highlights population growth, environmental challenges, and the need for hydropower development, which is considered cleaner than thermal power, as reasons for reassessment.

The notice also comes in the backdrop of a prolonged dispute over the Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, to which Pakistan has raised objections. The World Bank has activated both the neutral-expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration to address Pakistan’s concerns. However, India has not cooperated with the Court of Arbitration thus far.

India’s latest notice to Pakistan also calls for reconsideration of the treaty’s dispute-resolution mechanism. New Delhi maintains that the initiation of two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute — the neutral-expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration — violates the three-step graded process prescribed in the treaty. India continues to advocate for resolution through the neutral-expert proceedings.